Subject: The Vortex
by LapisLazuli100
Summary: While visiting a friend in Massachusetts, a side trip to an old abandoned mental hospital becomes a fight for survival. Derek and Lan get abducted by an enemy with a grudge, and the hospital's "former residents".
1. the Teaser

FreakyLinks

Subject: The Vortex

synopsis:

_While visiting a friend in Massachusetts, a side trip to an old abandoned mental hospital, becomes a fight for survival when Derek and Lan are abducted by an enemy with a grudge, and the "former residents"._

_ This story is rated T-__ for Mild violence and language._

_Timeline: This episode takes place sometime after __**subject: The Final Word**_.

_** **TEASER** **_

_Waltham, Massachusetts. A rented jeep sits unoccupied outside a massive gothic redbrick structure. Despite its majestic features, it's obvious from the crumbling bricks and chipping paint, that_

_ this building has been abandoned for many years. The white, weather beaten sign in front of the building reads: __**Massachusetts State Hospital **__and another "newer sign" posted next to it reads: NO _

_TRESPASSING._

_It is nearing nightfall as a security patrol vehicle pulls up behind the rental jeep and parks. A security guard, in his late 30s, cautiously approaches the empty jeep. Seeing nothing of interest, he then proceeds to_

_ walk up the stairs to inspect the building. One of the doors is open. _

_The security guard stands alone inside a massive lobby, littered with dust, garbage, and broken pieces of furniture and papers strewn all over the floor. The guard shines his light through the dim lit room, but_

_ there is nothing._

"Hello? This is security".

_Nobody responds. Walking further down the hall, he stumbles across a small video camera and a wallet. Opening the wallet, the guard observes the driver's license of one, Derek Barnes . The security guard _

_sighs. _

"Okay people, come on out where I can see you". _Still no response. _"The ghost hunting tour's over people. It's time for you all to pack up and get outta here" .

_Just then, the guard hears a noise -or was it a voice- somewhere in the far end of the hallway to his right. Tired of playing games, the guard paces swiftly and angrily down the grimy, rotting hallway. He walks _

_all the way to the end, then hears another noise. Looking to his left, he sees a flight of stairs. For a moment he hesitates. But then another noise. Although it was barely audible, he could have sworn it was a _

_voice. The guard descends swiftly, but cautiously down the flight of stairs, and to the basement. The guard held his flashlight up, and it cast a faint glow through the long, dim, hallway. Tiny windows helped light _

_the hallway, just a little, but the guard knew it would be dark soon._

"This is security" _the guard spoke more forcefully. _"Come out and show yourself Now!"

_Suddenly, he heard a sound coming from one of the rooms down the hall. It sounded like someone rummaging through debris. Frustrated, the guard runs towards the source of the noise; a room that gave him _

_chills, even in broad daylight: the hospital morgue. When he finally reached the doorway, he stopped and quietly drew his side arm before entering the room. It had no door anymore, so he appeared in the door way,_

_weapon drawn. At first, the room appeared empty, save for piles boxes, two autopsy tables, and the large unit used for storing cadavers. But something was wrong. Propped up on one of the autopsy tables, was _

_a small video camera, set on recording mode. That's when he noticed a large figure, flopping violently on the floor, like a fish out of water. The guard gasped and jumped, as he quickly shined his flashlight down _

_in the figure's direction._

_To his horror, the security guard saw that it was a young man - the SAME young man from the driver's license he found upstairs. The young man's face, Derek's face, was covered in scratches and bruises. A _

_large wad __of surgical cotton __and gauze was stuffed in his mouth, and further observation revealed that his wrists and ankles were bound with a dirty black electrical chord. Derek stopped struggling and was _

_shaking. He looked up at the security guard with pale blue eyes, large with fear, pleaded _

_silently for help. For a __moment the guard stood frozen in shock, but Derek's frantic muffled grunts snapped him out of his stupor and he quickly sprang into action. Setting his gun and flashlight on the table, _

_the guard knelt beside __him. He touched Derek's shoulder reassuringly._

"Hold still, everything's gonna be okay" _spoke the guard in comforting tone. He gently pulled the makeshift gag from Derek's mouth. Derek coughed and retched from the dirty threads clinging to the inside of _

_his mouth and throat._

"Please, you gotta help us" _Derek pleaded, _"my friend Lan and I, we were attacked. You gotta get us outta here!"

_Just then, a dark form appeared in the doorway. Seeing this, causes Derek to panic._

"Oh God no!"

_The security guard turns around, just in time to see a dark human figure rushing towards him with a rusty fire extinguisher. Derek cries out as the figure, with blinding speed, rushes up to the guard and brings_

_ the fire extinguisher down __on his head. The guard collapses on the floor, and the black shadow figure stands menacingly over Derek. He began to shake nervously once more._

"Oh my God, t_his is it" he thought. Tears welled up in his eyes, as he looked up at his captor. "Lan" Derek thought, "I'm so sorry". _

_** ***Cut to opening credits*****_


	2. Alittle bit of down time

**Act 1 (pt.1)**

******Return from commercial break******

_The opening screen is black, except for scrolled writing that says: __**"**__**Six hours earlier…**__**" **_

_Suddenly, there's a flash of white noise, as if SOMEONE has changed the channel._

_***The time is now 1:35 p.m. It's a beautiful sunny day in Waltham, Massachusetts. _

_Someone is operating a video camera, and we quickly learn from the voice, that it's Lan. _

_Lan is videotaping a picnic in a large yard, overlooking a large, beautiful pond. The _

_picnic Group is small, but animated. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. First, _

_Lan zooms in on Jason,. He _

_is flirting from a distance, with a young, skinny, attractive blonde. His goofy winking and _

_kissing expressions, make the girl smile, but she plays hard to get, by not going over to _

_him. Lan then pans over to two men talking, sharing a laugh. One of them, is Derek _

_Barnes, whom she unconsciously focuses the camera on the most. His mouth forms into a wide, Cheshire _

_Cat-like grin. Seeing that smile makes Lan smile in spite of herself, because, everybody _

_KNOWS Lan has been silently pining for Derek for ever. Her smile fades away. _

"_if only Derek knew how I felt about him" she thought to herself._

_She adjusts the angle to include Derek's friend, Nathan Adler. Nathan, was Blonde, wore _

_glasses, and had chiseled features. He was wearing a crème-colored flannel over a grey _

_Long-sleeved shirt. Nathan was in the middle of a funny story._

"So I told Amy…baby PLEASE come with me to the port-a-john…I don't want to go by

Myself, it's too dark. So she finally goes with me and I get her to open up the door FIRST!"

_Derek smiles and nods, waiting for the punch line._

"The minute she does this" _continues Nathan,_ "My friend Bob, JUMPS out of the port-a-john WEARING A WOLF MASK!"

_Lan and Derek both laugh heartily, not realizing that Nathan's wife, AMY, is standing right behind him, listening. Nathan continues._

"Man, the screams that came out of that woman…GOD that was hilarious! Thought I was gonna wet myself!"

_Suddenly, Nathan lets out a girlish shriek, as Amy empties a cup full of ice down inside Nathan's shirt. Everybody's laughing now. As Derek and Lan continue laughing, Nathan shoots Amy a look, and she shoots back with a playful sneer. Nathan and Amy embrace, kiss, and remain arm in arm._

"Well" says Amy, "now that THAT'S over with, Nate honey, why don't you ask Derek and his friends where their things are."

_Derek looks confused. _"Our things? What are you talking about?"

"Your suitcases, dummy" responds Nathan, "DON'T tell me you guys got a hotel room".

_Derek and Lan exchange looks. Lan shrugs. _"Well…kind of" answers Derek.

_Nathan shakes his head._ "Well you know what"_ he says,_ "You and Lan are gonna go to your hotel right now, and Check out! You guys are staying with Amy and me this week".

_Derek's expression was wide-eyed disbelief. Nathan continued…_

"For chrys-sakes, Derek. You, me, and Adam go way back. He wouldn't want any less. Besides…it'll give me a chance to tell you guys ALL about my paranormal research, PLUS that mental hospital I'm gonna take you to see later on in the week".

"Mental Hospital?" _asked Lan._

"Yea!" _beamed Derek,_ "Nate promised he'd take us on a ghost-hunting trip to Massachusetts State Hospital. It's rumored to be one of the most haunted [and scariest] places in the US".

"It's no rumor Derek, Massachusetts State Hospital is as haunted -as it IS notorious".

_Lan switches off the camera as she and Derek become engrossed in the history of the hopital._

"It was built in the late 1800s. It has a long history of abuse, negligence, suicides, torture, murders; the place was finally investigated and subsequently shut down after one of the nurses disappeared. It was discovered through the investigation, that one of the patients murdered her and hid her somewhere in the hospital".

_Derek and Lan stood silently for a long moment, until Derek cracked another Cheshire Cat smile._

"Dude…we have GOT to see this hospital!"

_Nathan returned Derek's smile as he hugged his wife, Amy._

"We will Derek, we will…just be patient. I have to assemble the team before we do ANYTHING."

_Just then, Jason runs up to Derek with a serious facial expression and slaps a hand on Derek's shoulder._

"Derek…you are NOT going to believe who's here…"

"Who" _asked Derek._

"Gunter Mahlberg".

_Derek is stunned. But then his eyes widen in anger and disbelief, when hearing the name of their half-pint rival._

"WHAT?" _Derek regains his composure,_ "How, why…I…where IS that little creep?"

"Hey man, relax. It's all good" _replies Jason with a cool smile,_ "I got him right where we've always wanted him".

_Jason holds out his left hand, revealing a grilled shrimp (the size of a golf ball) impaled on a fork. Everybody doubles over with laughter._

_Later on in the afternoon…_

_Derek is driving their rented jeep, with Lan in the passenger seat. Lan couldn't help staring at Derek. He was so gorgeous with his dark hair, and grey knit sweater. But suddenly, Derek looked at her. Perhaps sensing that she was staring at him._

"Are you okay" _asked Derek._

"uh…yea, I'm fine" _quipped Lan, who fidgeted nervously in her seat._ "I really like your friend, Nathan. It was nice of him to invite us up here".

_Derek smiled. He knew Lan liked him. Truth be told, he liked her too. She looked so cute with her hair done up in pigtail braids; and the smell of her new perfume, was intoxicating._

"Yea it was. I actually met Nathan through Adam. They both met at some paranormal research lecture at Adam's college, and they became good friends. Adam and Chloe would stay up here with Nathan and Amy, on weekends and go camping and fishing".

"Sounds really nice" _replied Lan._ "It's too bad Chloe couldn't make the trip with us".

_Derek shrugged. He didn't really have much to say about that. It was then that Lan suddenly became aware of their surroundings._

"Hey Derek, this isn't the way to town".

"You're right it's not" _smiled Derek._

"Then where are we going" _asked Lan, then suddenly realized the answer._ "Oh Derek, no!"

"Oh yes" _nodded Derek,_ "haunted hospital, here we come!"

_The rented jeep continues speeding down the road and out of sight._

_****** END OF ACT I pt.1******_


	3. Warnings Fall on Deaf Ears

**Act II (pt.2)**

_The jeep continues driving at an accelerated pace down a winding road; a thick wall of tall trees line both sides of the road and seem to stretch to infinity. It is still daylight when the jeep finally pulls up in front of a massive, crumbling, redbrick gothic structure. The large, fading sign read: Massachusetts State Hospital. The second [newer] sign read: NO TRESSPASSING. _

_Derek jumped out of the jeep, camera in hand. It's obvious from his expression, that he can hardly contain his excitement. Lan, on the other hand, slowly slides out of the jeep, fidgeting with her yellow hoodie. Both of them stare at the massive structure, which resembled a giant, over-the-top mansion, more than it did a hospital. Derek quickly bolted up the large stone steps towards the two doors with large glass-wire meshed windows._

"Derek" _spoke Lan,_ "I really think we should wait for Nathan and the others". _She pulled her hoodie more tightly around her, and stared at her long, burgundy colored skirt._

"Besides" _lan continued_, "I'm not dressed properly".

_Derek looked back at Lan from the top of the stairs and carefully jogged back down._

"Aw come on" _Derek smiled,_ "Where's you're sense of adventure?"

_Lan opened her mouth to protest, when Derek snaked his arm around her, playfully. It was obvious that Derek, was using his charms simply to get his way, for he KNEW she could not resist him._

"Come on sunshine" _Derek continued_, "It'll be okay. We're just gonna pop in, do a little filming, and get a feel of the place. Everything will be fine".

_He quickly pulls away from Lan and heads back up the stone steps._

"Besides" Derek added, "Whoever heard of ghosts haunting people in broad daylight?"

"HEY" _shouted a small voice. The made both Lan and Derek jump._

_At first, the two looked around, but didn't see anyone nearby. But then, they saw a young girl appear from behind the hospital sign. She looked to be about 8 or 10 years old. The girl had short, corn silk-colored hair and was wearing a lilac-colored sweatshirt, blue jeans, and sneekers._

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you" the girl warned, "it's dangerous".

"Oh really" asked Derek, "and how would you know?"

The young girl crossed her arms, indignantly.

"I just know."

Derek scowled slightly, and returned his attention to the double doors.

"Did you not hear what I said?"

Derek and Lan stared at the young girl. Her face, though small, was filled with concern. She appeared rather articulate for her age.

"It's NOT safe to go in there, and I'm not just talking about the structure itself".

Lan took a step closer to the girl.

"Just what ARE you talking about" Lan asked.

But the girl lowered her head and took a step back. At first, the girl hesitated, then looking at Lan, she finally spoke.

"…ghosts…but THAT'S not the worst thing…"

"What is it then, sweetie" asked Lan gently.

But before the girl could answer, Derek shook his head and chimed in mockingly: "Aw she just making stuff up".

The girl glared angrily at Derek. "I AM NOT!"

And with that, the girl took off like a rocket, around the building.

"Hey wait" shouted Lan, who started to run after her then stopped and looked up at Derek.

"What?"

"Was that REALLY necessary Derek? She was trying to warn us."

_Somewhere from one of the upper levels of the hospital, someone -or something, is looking down on Derek and Lan from one of the windows, watching them unnoticed. The observer watches as Derek and Lan go from talking, to having a heated debate._

Derek walks up to Lan, throwing his arms in the air, exasperated.

"Are you coming, or not" asks Derek.

_His tone is impatient, and Lan simply stares back at him, slightly appalled by his sudden change in demeanor, not sure how to respond._

_Derek and Lan enter the hospital lobby. It is a large empty space, littered with papers, debris, and trashed rotting chairs-furniture. Derek smiles, taking in the creepy brooding atmosphere, as does Lan. Although the interior was creepy and reeked of mildew and decay, Lan had to admit; there was something about Massachusetts State Hospital. It had a kind of presence -no, a kind of energy -yes an energy that was unsettling. And yet, she couldn't resist it, even as the energy seemed to enfold her and Derek, dragging them further and further in._

"My god" spoke Lan, "This place is incredible".

"What did I tell you" spoke Derek, camera in hand. "And to think you were worried".

_They walked down the hallway to their left, passing more boxes, debris, and bits and pieces of broken hospital equipment. Derek looked back at Lan, who was behind him, and appeared to be mesmerized by the creepy atmosphere. Derek's eyes widened and so did his smile, as though some sort of inspiration struck him. He looked back at Lan and saw she was still distracted, then he smiled to himself and crept slowly up ahead, trying not to make too much noise._

_Lan entered one of the rooms that was bare, except for a rusty spring mattress a small desk, and broken glass all over the floor. The room was illuminated by light coming from a large hole in the upper corner of the wall. On the surface, nothing appeared to be unusual, until she turned and saw the wall next to the doorway._

_Somebody had drew on the wall in either paint, or crayon, two yellowish red, evil-looking cat's eyes. Above the pair of cat's eyes were letters scrolled in red:_

**_"ThEY aRe wATchiNg mee!"_**

_Seeing this graffiti made Lan's skin crawl, and she paced quickly out of the room only to find herself alone in the long stretch of hallway._

"Derek" _there was no response_. "Derek where are you?" _Still no response. Lan was getting scared, but she did her best to keep a cool level head. After all, it wasn't the first time she was in a creepy situation._

"Derek where ARE you?" _no response_. "Come on this isn't funny!"

_Just then a scream cuts through the silent hallway like a razor blade, causing Lan to jump and yelp. She checks around herself, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. But the scream erupts again, even louder and more desperate than before._

"Oh my God Derek" _muttered Lan as she raced towards the end of the hallway._

_Lan burts into the room where the noise is coming from, and screams when seeing Derek screaming, and flopping up and down on the rusty mattress. But suddenly, it becomes obvious that Derek is merely pretending to be electrocuted. Derek finally stops and starts laughing! He looks up at Lan and laughs._

"What's wrong Lan, can't you take a joke?"

_Lan is speechless. She stares at Derek with an expression of anger and hurt. She storms out of the room in disgust, and Derek quickly jumps off the mattress to go after her._

"Lan, hey wait! I'm sorry." _Derek quickly runs out of the room and stops dead in his tracks._

"Lan?"

_There is no response. What's more, Lan doesn't appear to be anywhere in sight. Derek walks down the hall, glancing inside each room. But there's no sign of life._

"Lan?" _no response. Derek suddenly felt like a real jerk._

"Lan I'm sorry. Please come out". _Still no response._

"I mean it Lan, I'm sorry! You can come out now, I've learned my lesson". _Still no response._ "You got me back Lan, good one!"

_He retraced his steps back to the room where he played his mean trick on Lan._

_That was when he stopped and made a disturbing discovery. Lying on the floor was Lan's yellow hoodie. Derek snatched the hoodie off of the ground, and quickly discovered small, fresh, droplets of blood. Derek screamed out..._

"LAAAANNNN!"

_*******Cut to commercial break*******_


	4. Ambushed!

**Act 1 pt. 2 **_**(continued)**_

_***********Return from Commercial Break***********_

"LAAAAN!" cried Derek, "WHERE ARE YOU, ANSWER ME!"

But there was no response. Derek suddenly felt as though he'd been shot in the stomach. Not only did he feel like an 'ass' for teasing Lan, but now he was certain that she may be in trouble. Lan didn't play practical jokes on people; not even in retaliation. Something happened to her.

Derek raced back towards the lobby, occasionally kicking boxes out of his way. Reaching the lobby, he pushed his way through the double doors and looked towards their jeep. It was unoccupied. Staring at the jeep, Derek felt underneath his sweater, touching his amulet. It was -the same- amulet he found at his brother, Adam's house the night he and Chloe were viciously attacked by Virginia Dare. Touching the amulet, somehow gave Derek some reassurance of protection.

"Lan" Derek whispered to himself, "what happened to you?"

Derek slowly walked back into the lobby, feeling very alone and uneasy. He walked over to the reception area. It was a large wooden circular desk with filing shelves. It was slightly warped from water damage, it was covered in dust and reeked of mildew. Using his sleeve, Derek vigorously rubbed dust off the corner of the desk, and set Lan's yellow hoodie down. He then turned his camera back on and flipped it around to film himself. Derek spoke into the camera.

"Hello Freakers, Derek Barnes here, bringing you an exclusive look inside the infamous Massachusetts State Hospital, where it is estimated that nearly 10,000 people, young and old have met an untimely death within these walls. Negligence, abuse, disease, torture, suicide…and MURDER; it all happened RIGHT HERE… so say-ith the History Channel. But what the History Channel DIDN'T reveal, was the hundreds of eye-witness accounts from residents and former staff members, involving ghostly apparitions, dangerous poltergeist activity AND…the appearance of a menacing black shadow figure. Now some say it is the embodiment of all who suffered within these walls. But Others believe it may be something -far-more-sinister…."

Derek paused a moment and looked to his right, his gaze fell on Lan's hoodie. He swallowed hard, and returned to the camera.

"But right now Freakers, I have a bigger problem on my hands. While exploring these halls of death and despair, I lost my friend and assistant, Lan. I don't know where she is, or if she's even safe. All I know is I've got to find her. So there you have it freaks, operation find-and-Rescue Lan. Here we go".

Derek turned the camera away from himself and aimed in the direction he was walking. He decided to retrace his steps back to the left wing, where he first found Lan's hoodie. Just then a scream shatters the silence, and Derek swirls around desperately trying to pin point the source.

"Lan?"

At first, there was nothing. But then another scream, this time followed by desperate pleading.

"Derek….? Derek where are you? Please help me…!"

Derek started to panic. If anything happened to Lan he would never forgive himself.

"Lan? Hang on I'm coming!"

Derek didn't know where to go, but then Lan continued crying out. Hearing her voice helped him deduce that Lan was somewhere upstairs. He ran back to where Lan first disappeared, and sure enough, there was an emergency stairwell, not far from where her hoodie was found. Derek burst through the rusty door and began climbing up the stairs. As he did this, Lan continued to scream.

"No please" cried Lan, "let me go…" she cries out it pain. "YOU'RE HURTING ME!"

"LAAAN!"

Derek crashed through the heavy metal door marked: 3rd F. With camera still in hand, he ran through the vacant hallway, which appeared to be a security area for patients needing locked up. Suddenly, he heard someone pounding on a closed door, crying. Derek could see from the distance that it was Lan, pounding desperately on the small square mesh-wire window. She was pounding and pulling at the door, but it would not budge. Suddenly, she was aware of Derek's presence, and her struggle became more frantic.

"Derek!" cried Lan, still pounding on the door. Derek rushed up to the room and he could see Lan's eyes, brimming with tears of fright.

"Please get me out here" she begged, just as a shiny, obsidian-black clawed hand appeared out of nowhere and pulled Lan away from the window.

Derek, now wide-eyed with fear and disbelief, continued to scream out Lan's name as he pounded on the door and tried to rush it and break it down. Just then, an unseen assailant knocked Derek to the ground with incredible force. At first Derek lay sprawled on the ground, coughing from all the dust that was kicked up from his landing. But as the dust cloud clearded, and he could see who pushed him, Derek's jaw dropped, and his eyes grew even wider with disbelief.

"You…" he muttered, in both shock and contempt.

In that instant, Derek's trembling fingers reached for the amulet hidden securely under his shirts, but the assailant grabbed him. Lifting him off the ground by his shirt, the assailant flung Derek back towards the emergency stairwell. He hit the wall and fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. Dazed and in pain, Derek dragged himself towards the emergency exit as his assailant slowly mid his/her way towards him. He pulled himself up and tried to walk, but his knees gave way and he fell forward down the stairs. Derek's body finally came to rest on the landing and he groaned weakly, feeling unimaginable pain shoot throughout his entire body. The sound of small footsteps rushing up the stairs, caused Derek to lift his head up. In spite of his will to fight, Derek felt his strength leaving him, and his vision was starting to grow dark. In the fading light, he could make out a little girl standing in front of him. It was the SAME little girl he and Lan met outside the hospital. The girl's expression was full of worry and, perhaps, pitty. Just then they both heard approaching footsteps. To Derek's horror, the little girl reached underneath his shirts, and removed the amulet from his neck.

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this" she whispered, "please forgive me". She turned and quickly ran down the stairs out of sight.

"no…" begged Derek weakly, and he began to shake.

Terror finally set in, as he heard the metal door opened and loud footsteps traveled slowly, deliberately, towards him from behind. He couldn't move to get away, his head was swimming. The last thing Derek saw, was a pair of shoes walking down towards him, as he succumbed to unconsciousness.

_********END OF ACT I********_


	5. At the Mercy of Shadows

**Act II (pt.1)**

_*********Back from Commercial Break**********_

First, there was simply darkness for Derek Barnes. But the darkness soon gave way to distorted sounds and images inside his mind. Images of his brother Adam; memories of their childhood, and

the night Adam committed suicide. Images of Lan crying, begging for help ALSO replayed in his mind. But then Derek had visions of moving forward in a long dark creepy tunnel, interspersed with

images from Adam's funeral. Derek continued staring into the blackness of the tunnel, until images of the tunnel seemed to rewind -backwards- like a video tape cassette! The image continued

to 'rewind' backwards until the pitch black tunnel transformed into the mouth of a freshly dug grave. His grave.

It was THIS image that snapped Derek back into consciousness, though he was still groggy, and very much in pain. He closed his eyes, as his head throbbed and his joints ached. The first sensation to

hit him, was the smell of rancid meat -or was it blood? -He couldn't tell. But as he tried to move, Derek quickly found that he couldn't. Opening his eyes, he found himself lying face down on a damp,

dirty cement floor. The faint light from the hallway revealed that it was littered with papers, boxes, and hundreds of glass slides, spotted with blood and discolored from age.

Slowly Derek became aware that his wrists and ankles were bound with some kind of chord. A gag was in his mouth, and it was packed in so tight, that Derek could not spit it out or shake it loose.

Derek started twisting and struggling, but the knots held good. He continued to struggle, even as his wrists started burning from the friction. In the end, however, it was no use. Derek lowered his

head to the ground in defeat. Just then, he heard footsteps coming in his direction…Out of desperation, Derek started blurting out muffled grunts and tried kicking boxes to attract attention.

The footsteps came closer and Derek continued his efforts until he noticed two strange figures peering at him from the open doorway. He could not make out their facial features, but he could tell the

figures were human.

Both looked very slender, and appeared to be of medium height. One of them held a large glass jar, with something dark and squirming inside. Derek could not make out what it was. The other seemed

to be dragging a rope behind him. Both of them seemed to be wearing patient gowns, and this caused Derek's stomach to suddenly turn in knots. The two figures approached Derek without even

making a sound.

Instinctively, Derek tried pushing himself away from them, but he quickly felt himself hit the back of something cold and hard. Lifting his head up, Derek was able to make out the outlines of a cadaver

storage unit. Seeing this, made him lose all self-control. Derek screamed through his gag at the gruesome revelation and continued to scream as one of the figures rolled him over on his back and

straddled him. Derek struggled as he felt icy cold hands pin his shoulders to the ground, rendering him completely immobile. A pungent, sickly sweet order emanated from those hands. The other figure

(still standing) held the glass jar above Derek, slowly tilting it. At first, nothing seem to come out…and then…the contents slowly spilled out of the jar…Derek Barnes shook his head vigorously,

screaming as the silent figure showered him with dozens of live spiders. His muffled screams continued to peel through the empty basement hallway like thunder…..

On the 3rd floor of the hospital, in room 313, A dazed Lan quickly regained consciousness, after hearing the sound of enraged screaming somewhere down the hall. She turned her head from side to

side, and found herself sprawled on a dusty, dirty, mattress that smelled like rats had crawled on it. The strong smell nauseated Lan, but she resisted the urge to throw up. She carefully sat up, her

neck and shoulders still tender, from where the assailant grabbed her, rendering her unconscious. As she sat up, and collected her nerves, Lan observed her surroundings. She was in a small room,

just big enough to walk back and forth in; the filthy mattress took up most of the space. To her left, was a large frosted-glass window, covered with bars. The frosted glass let in a faint glow of

sunlight, indicating that it was almost evening.

"_How long have I been here"_ Lan thought to herself.

She was scared, not just for herself but for Derek. The last thing remembered before she was assaulted was Derek, pounding on the door trying to free her. After that, everything went fuzzy. Lan was

slowly hyperventilating and she hugged herself, trying to remain calm.

"Derek" she whispered, "Where are you…I need you…" Suddenly, a screaming female voice shattered the silence, causing Lan to jump.

"_**IT'S -NOT-FAIR!"**_

"Will you lower your voice, please" asked a smooth masculine voice.

"I have waited a LONG TIME for this moment…You CAN'T deny me my vengeance" continued the female voice, "I DEMAND satisfaction!"

"I'm afraid the situation has changed" spoke the male voice, "Now that our masters know his identity, they want him disposed of immediately."

Lan sat on the bed, hugging herself. Her expression is one of fear and confusion.

"I was cheated out of the amulet -not once, BUT TWICE by both brothers . Now that I have Adam's beloved twin, I intend to make that worthless maggot suffer!"

"That won't be possible" spoke the male voice, "Derek Barnes is a threat to our cause. His little performance in Cassadega, where he drove out all the Harbingers, only reaffirmed the masters'

concerns".

Lan continued to listen, even as the voice paused for brief a moment.

"Derek Barnes must die. Not in three days, not in one hour, Right Now!"

Lan continued eavesdropping until she heard ANOTHER sound, THIS TIME coming from outside the hospital. She quickly moved to the window, and she could just barely make out the shape of a car

pulling up to the entrance. Not surprisingly, the ones Lan had been listening to were ALSO aware of the car's presence.

"You have until sun down…which only gives you…15 minutes" the male voice said scornfully, "if you fail to kill Derek before then, the master of THIS vortex shall deal with him personally."

"Fine" snapped the female voice, "but what about the girl? Will she have to die?"

"Naturally" answered the male voice, "But she's not important right now. Kill Derek, then deal with his friend. I have another pressing engagement I must attend to".

Suddenly, there was a rushing wind that blew through the hallway, upsetting boxes and debris, and then…silence. For a moment, Lan stood by the window, unable to move; afraid to move because of

what she heard.

What was happening in this place? Why was it so imperative that she and Derek were killed?

These were questions Lan could not understand, or even begin to answer. But just then… she heard a sound outside her door…Something or someone was trying to get in. Lan backed herself against

the barred window. She clasped her hand around her neck, trying to prepare herself for whatever horror was about to come get her….

The door swung open…revealing the small young girl Lan and Derek saw outside the hospital. Lan gasped with relief and nearly passed out from fear. The girl motioned desperately to Lan.

"Come on we have to hurry" urged the little girl, "Follow me".

Lan steadied herself and took the little girl's hand as she led her out of that horrible room. The girl led Lan to the emergency exit and continued running until they reached the second floor landing.

That's when the girl motioned for Lan to stop.

"Here" spoke the girl, taking Lan's hand, "you're friend's gonna need this".

The little girl took Lan's open hand, and gave her Derek's Amulet. Lan stared at the little girl.

"I don't understand," spoke Lan, "What is this?"

"It belongs to your friend" the girl answered, "Emma made me take it from him. She said I had to hide it…or else the bad lady would have gotten it, and do mean things to him".

Lan was confused, but before she could speak the girl squeezed her hand.

"We HAVE to save your friend. The bad lady's got him tied up in the morgue, she's gonna kill him!"

Downstairs in the morgue, the two figures stood up from their crouching position, and backed slowly away from Derek. Derek, still bound and gagged, lay curled up in a fetal position. He was shaking

and twitching violently, from the cruelty he endured at the hands of his two tormentors. The two figures slowly turned to one another and exchanged looks. Then…they started to giggle in a soft creepy

tone. Derek shut his eyes, tightly, fighting back tears. He didn't know how much more he could take. Just then…there was the sound of a door opening and closing. This caused Derek's two tormentors

to gasp and rush out of the room.

At first, there was silence…and he heard a strong voice from the distance call out:

"This is security! Come out and show yourself now!"

That voice, those words, they were like music to Derek's ears. Once again Derek twisted and struggled, this time, he mustered what little strength he had left and began kicking the boxes, junk,

ANYTHING he thought would draw attention….

The guard appeared, he tried to help Derek; but that was when Virginia Dare materialized out of nowhere, with fire extinguisher in hand. She brought the guard down swiftly, without mercy; and then

she cast her murderous gaze upon Derek…

Not far away, Lan and the little girl reached the basement level of the emergency fire escape.. Lan was about to enter the hallway when the little girl squeezed her hand…they both took a deep breath

and paced down the hall as quickly and quietly as they could. Hearing movement in the distance, forced them to duck into a nearby room. They waited a few moments, and the little girl carefully poked

her head out the door.

She watched as Virginia Dare dragged the groaning security guard up away from the morgue, walking several paces, then making a sharp right turn down another hallway. Waiting a few more

moments, the girl nodded to Lan and the two paced quickly to the room Virginia Dare, exited. Lan clapped both hands over her mouth when seeing Derek sprawled on the floor, shivering from shock

and terror.

"Miss hurry!" whispered the little girl who remained outside the room to keep watch.

Lan rushed to Derek's side and frantically worked on untying his wrists. Miraculously she was able to free him and started working on his ankles, JUST as the little girl shrieked. Looking up, both Derek

and Lan froze when seeing Virginia Dare standing in the doorway with the little girl struggling in her arms. Before either one of them could react, Virginia tossed the little girl against the cadaver

drawers and rushed towards Lan and Derek. With lightening speed she grabbed Derek's throat with her right hand and Lan's throat, with her left, and squeezed. Derek scratched and pounded his fists

on Virginia's arm but it was useless. He was doing her no harm.

First Virginia looked to Lan, and then she looked to Derek, making eye contact with him. Suddenly, her lips curled into a cruel evil smile… She held Derek securely against the wall in a sitting position. At

the same time, Virginia tightened her grip on Lan's throat, and lifting her up off the ground. Derek struggled and pleaded, as he helplessly watched Virginia, attempting to choke the life out of Lan.

"LEAVE THEM ALONE, YOU WITCH!" screamed the little girl, as he grabbed Virginia's leg and bit down with all her might.

Virginia let out an animal-like scream. She dropped Lan and released Derek, and turned her rage on the little girl. Derek leaned forward and cushioned Lan's fall with his lap, as Virgina ripped the little

girl from her leg and proceeded to slap her, over and over again. Coughing and choking, Lan grabbed Derek's hand and pushed something into it…Derek didn't know what to do until he realized what

just happened. Virginia continued slapping the poor hapless child…

"VIRGINIA" screamed Derek.

This caused her to freeze. Slowly, Virginia turned to face Derek. Seeing Derek clutching the Amulet, caused her to unleash an angry unearthly shriek…

"Go to hell Virginia" growled Derek, "Go to hell you bitch!"

Hearing these words caused Virginia to shriek even louder, causing everyone to cover their ears…and then…in an instant…she vanished into thin air.

For a moment, no one dared to move. The little girl sat up, and looked back at Derek. Even in the dimly lit room, he could see the poor child's face was already swelling up from where Virginia had struck her.

"You okay?" he asked weakly. The child nodded "yes".

Derek stretched out his arms and motioned for the little girl to come to him. The girl hesitated, at first…but then she quickly crawled up to Derek, putting her arms around his waist. Derek stroked her

soft, silky hair as she started to cry. He looked to his right and observed Lan next to him. She was breathing heavily, trying to catch her breath. Seeing the finger marks on Lan's throat, finally caused

the tears to spill from Derek's eyes. He reached out his right hand to try and touch her, but Lan leaned towards Derek and wrapped her arms around his neck. As soon as Lan pressed herself close to

him, Derek pressed his lips on her forehead, kissing her for a long time. This made Lan, cry even harder.

"I'm so sorry Lan" cried Derek, "I'm so sorry…" He kissed her forehead once more, then he squeezed both girls against him, tightly, and protectively…

_********Cut to Commercial Break*********_


	6. Grim Options

_*********Return from Commercial Break***********_

**Although His ankles were still bound, Derek seemed oblivious to this, as he continued squeezing both crying girls tightly against him. His eyes remained large, staring out into the dim empty**

** hallway. He was still shaking from their ordeal. It was finally Lan, who lifted up her head to look at Derek. Seeing him in this state made Lan want to pull Derek into her own embrace, but she**

** knew they had to get going and fast. She could see by the disappearing light in the hallway, that the sun was nearly gone and they were running out of time. **

"**Derek" urged Lan softly, "we have to get out of here".**

**She gently slipped out of his grasp and moved towards his bound ankles. Derek slowly snapped out his trance and observed Lan untying him, and he turned his gaze to the little girl, still crying.**

"**Hey…hey it's gonna be alright, we're safe now" said Derek weakly, stroking the child's head. The little girl finally pulled away from Derek and looked at him with large tear-filled eyes. **

"**I'm sorry I took your necklace Mister" the girl said, "but I had to or the bad lady would have gotten it. Please don't yell at me."**

**Derek squeezed the girl's shoulder reassuringly. The stealing of his amulet at that time, frightened Derek, but now he realized that her actions, may very well have saved all of their lives.**

"**It's okay" Derek reassured her. "What's your name?"**

"**Madison" the little girl spoke, hesitantly. Derek forced himself to smile as he rubbed her shoulder and nodded.**

"**My name's Derek" he nodded his head towards Lan, "That's my friend Lan". Lan nodded to Madison as she continued untying Derek.**

"**Madison, thank you. Thank you for helping Lan and me…I'm sorry I was such a jerk before" he said.**

**Madison nodded. By now, Lan had finished untying Derek, and she started looking around nervously. **

"**Derek" she spoke, "we HAVE to get out of here…I don't understand any of this, but we're still in danger. Somebody wants to kill us"!**

"**She's right" added Madison, "That lady you scared away, I heard her arguing with someone else. And he said that you and Lan had to die!"**

**Derek looked at Lan, and then looked at Madison. Under 'normal' circumstances, it would have taken more than just the girls' pleading to force him into retreat. But after dealing with those two **

**'patients', and Virginia Dare…he was ready to call it a day. **

**Derek moved to get up and he let out a hiss, as pain shot throughout his body. Standing up, he felt his head swimming. Seeing this, Lan slowly got up to support Derek, but he held his hand up **

**to stop her.**

"**I'm okay" he insisted, as he leaned himself against the cadaver storage unit. **

**Derek closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to clear his head. Opening his eyes, Derek suddenly noticed his video camera sitting on the autopsy table, next to the guard's flashlight and **

**gun. He stepped forward and picked up his video camera. Upon inspection, Derek saw that it had been on recording the whole time. He would worry about footage later. Right now, they had to **

**get out of there.**

**Lan, Derek, and Madison jogged quickly, but carefully up the hall where Madison saw Virginia drag the guard. A long hallway stretched before them with rooms on both sides. The guard could **

**be in any one of them.**

"**Crap" muttered Derek, "he could be anywhere". **

**He looked at Lan, holding the flashlight, and she stepped forward to lead the way. Derek slung the camera strap around his neck to keep both hands free. He took Madison's hand and held it **

**firmly.**

"**Hey wait" spoke Madison, letting go of Derek's hand. **

**She checked her front pockets and then pulled something out of her back pocket. It was a small plastic bottle. It almost resembled a flask. Madison pressed the bottle into Derek's hand.**

"**I almost forgot, you might need this too, just in case"**

**Derek studied the plastic white bottle, trying to decipher what was inside. "What is it" Derek finally asked.**

"**It's holy water" responded Madison, "I never play here without it".**

"**You actually play here?" This caused Lan to kneel down to speak with Madison at eye level. Madison nodded.**

"**Sweetie, why?"**

**Madison looked at her shoes, and hesitated for a moment. But slowly she looked up and continued.**

"**I come here…to see Emma" she hesitates. "She's my….she was my grandmother". **

**Derek and Lan are dead silent as Madison continues.**

"**she's a nurse here and I come to visit with her, and play with the children. But now…"**

**Suddenly, Madison stops, as a new flow of tears threaten to stream down her face. Her small angelic voice begins to crack. **

"**But now she doesn't want me to come see her anymore, because she's afraid of the dark man". **

**Madison sniffles, and wipes tears from her eyes. **

"**The dark man…HE's the reason I carry the holy water; and HE was the one I was trying to warn you about, earlier. I've seen him before."**

**Suddenly there was a loud crash 5 doors down the hall, causing all of them to jump. Lan shined the flashlight in the direction of the loud crash, and they continued to hear commotion echo **

**through the empty hall. All three of them stood rigid with bated breath, waiting. Just then, one of the doors flew open, as the injured security guard staggered out, as if drunk, his hands were **

**tied behind him. He fell to the ground, and the group rushed to help him. Derek was the first to reach him.**

"**Hang on pal, you're gonna be alright" spoke Derek, as he quickly worked on the guard's restraints, and Lan held the light up so Derek could see what he was doing.**

**Once the guard's hands were free, he sat up slowly clutching the back of his neck.**

"**Thank you" the guard said, still dazed, but fully aware of their situation. "You folks okay?"**

"**Yes" nodded Derek, "but we have to get out of here now. Someone's after us!"**

**As if on cue, there was a loud crash that thundered throughout the hallway. It seemed to have originated from the emergency exit at the end of the other hallway where they first came from; **

**and the crash was now followed by the loud deep sound of a growling dog.**

"**It's HIM" cried Madison, "It's the dark man!"**

**Lan, Derek, and the security guard looked at each other, all three adults found themselves in the grips of paralyzing fear. Derek forced himself to speak.**

"**Is there another emergency exit down this hall?"**

"**No" replied the guard, "there IS another way out of here, through those double doors up ahead. It's a tunnel that stretches about half a mile, but it'll take us straight to the outside. I'm telling **

**you right now though, you're not gonna like it".**

"**Why, what do you mean?" asked Lan.**

**The guard looked at Lan, Derek, and Madison. Their expressions were a mixture of pain, terror, and fatigue. The guard swallowed hard. If only there was another option. But the growling sound **

**was getting louder and closer.**

"**It's called the 'Death Tunnel' miss, It was constructed and used to transport dead bodies off of hospital grounds."**

**The growling noise grows louder.**

_************Cut To Commercial Break***********_


	7. Cliffhanger

_**********Back from Commercial Break***********_

"You have GOT to be kidding me" hissed Lan in a hushed, but elevated tone. "A death tunnel? You're out of your mind!"

Suddenly another loud crash echoed from the other hallway, causing them all to jump and yelp. The growling sound was getting closer around the corner.

"Look miss" urged the guard, " I don't like this anymore than you do, but right now we got no choice! It's either the death tunnel, or we face whoever's in that hallway!"

A wooden wheel chair suddenly crashes into their hallway with blinding speed. It smashes into a pile of sticks and metal against the dirty stone wall. At first, the group is frozen in place, too afraid to move; but the sudden appearance of a shiny obsidian-colored claw like hand, feeling its way around the hallway corner, causes everyone to jump up and scramble down the opposite direction.

"This way" shouted the guard, as they all raced towards the faded green metal double doors, down the hall.

The guard's running was unsteady, obviously he was still hurting from his head injury. As they ran down the hall, the guard nearly fell forward from dizziness, but Derek was quick to catch him by the arm and keep him balanced. When they finally reached the door, they discovered a chain around the door handles, locked with a a heavy duty pad lock, painted with a red "X".

"Oh no, what are we gonna do" cried Madison, as she wrapped her arms around Lan's waist.

Lan put a comforting hand on the girls head, while she steadied the flashlight over the chain with the other. But then Derek handed her the bottle of holy water, and he grabbed the lock and started to pull, while the guard reached into his left side pocket, producing a ring of keys.

"Hold on just a minute" the guard muttered, holding the set of keys next to the lock.

Derek watched as the guard matched the color keys with the color of the "X" painted on the lock.

"That's really clever" spoke Derek with a relieved expression.

"Isn't it though?" smiled the guard nervously, as he opened the lock and then quickly unwrapped the chain from the door handles.

Lan, Derek, and Madison, stepped back as the guard threw open the double doors, revealing a wide, pitch black hallway of nothingness. Lan, Madison, and the guard started running down the hall, the flashlight offered little visibility. But before continuing on, Lan looked back and saw that Derek was still standing in the doorway, still as a statue.

"Derek" Lan called out "what are you waiting for, let's get out of here!"

Derek's eyes slowly widened with a terrifying realization. As he was experienced a shortness of breath, Derek realized that This tunnel…this tunnel which resembled the gaping black mouth of an open grave, it was _the SAME_ tunnel and the Same black mouth that haunted him in his dream in the morgue. He couldn't do it. He could NOT go in there.

"Derek, for God's sakes what are you waiting for" urged Lan, "Come On!"

Lan gently removed Madison's arms from around her waist, and as Madison protested, Lan murmured words of comfort and reassurance to her, before running back to Derek. She quickly sprinted back to Derek as he continued standing rigid in the doorway, as though catatonic. Lan put her hands on his shoulders and started shaking him with all her might, but he wouldn't snap out of it. Finally, Lan slapped him hard across the face. THIS brought Derek back into the present and he looked at Lan, bewildered.

"Damn it pull yourself together. We gotta move!"

Before Derek could answer, Lan grabbed his hand, squeezing it roughly and dragging him behind her. When they finally caught up to Madison and the guard, all four of them sprinted together in the all consuming black void. The flashlight, was pretty much useless, Derek thought to himself. It seemed about as effective lighting their way, as one of those small laser pens, Chloe bought for her orange tabby kitten to chase. The tunnel seemed to drag on forever, and although nobody said a word, they all felt overwhelmed by a feeling of desperation and hopelessness as this tunnel truly seemed to lead nowhere.

At last, however, the faint glow of the flashlight DID reveal another set of double doors chained and locked in a fashion, similar to what they encountered a few minutes ago. They quickened their pace, and ran frantically until everyone thought their lungs were about to burst. The guard was the first one to reach the door, and began the task of finding the right key.

"Miss hold that flashlight steady" ordered the guard, frantically trying to fit the key inside the lock.

As he did this, a low, but audible growl filled the air, like the sound of an approaching thunderstorm. This caused the guard's hands to fumble just a little, but he managed to get the lock opened. He quickly pulled and unwound the chain from the door handles, and pulled them wide open. He stumbled out of the building, and staggered onto the unkept driveway, built for ambulances and meat wagons. In that moment, the guard seemed to be drunk with relief, and it seemed to wash over Lan, Derek and Madison. The guard started to laugh.

"I can't believe it" he laughed, "We made it guys, we made-"

Just then, an invisible force slammed the security guard to the ground, while simultaneously knocking Derek and Lan backwards into the hallway. Madison screamed and rushed towards them. But the invisible force knocked Madison off her feet and hurled her out into the parking lot next to the guard. For a moment, Derek and Lan, lay sprawled on the damp murky cement, unable to move or even breathe from having the wind knocked out of them. But their confusion, soon turned into full blown terror when they heard the double doors slam shut, trapping them inside the darkness.

At first, Derek didn't move. He turned his head from left to right, trying to discern any kind of light or movement. His eyes came to rest on Lan's silhouette, illuminated by the flashlight, located by the doors. She was just a couple of inches away from him, so Derek, with caution, sat up regaining his bearings, and trying to ignore his aches and pains.

"Lan…Lan are you okay" Derek asked.

Lan stirred and coughed from the dust, and rancid meat smell, emanating through the tunnel.

"Yea, I think so" Lan replied.

She lifted her head to look at him. Lan could barely make out Derek's form, or is facial expression, from the faint glow of the flashlight. Lan observed that flashlight's beam seemed to be growing weaker. As Lan continued to stare at the flashlight, Derek suddenly felt himself get pulled backwards by the strap of his camera, down the hallway and out of sight. Lan screamed and called out his name but there was no response. Ignoring the pain throughout her body, Lan sprang up off the ground and snatched the flashlight, then ran into the direction of where Derek was dragged off.

"Derek" cried Lan, "Derek what's happening? Tell me where you are".

Lan continued running back through the pitch black tunnel, even as she heard a sound. It was a rather disturbing sound, the sound of someone choking and gasping for air. The sound grew louder as Lan drew closer to the source of the noise. As she ran, Lan panned her flashlight from left to right, trying to get a sense of the tunnel.

But then her flashlight revealed a horrifying sight. One that caused Lan to scream and nearly drop the flashlight. Against the wall, suspended in the air, was Derek Barnes, surrounded by, what looked like a black cloud or mass. He was hanging by the strap of his video camera. His limbs were flailing weakly in the air, as he choked and gasped for oxygen. Before Lan had discovered him, Derek had tried desperately to free himself from his assailant's grasp, but it was futile. And now, he felt all his strength and vitality desert him. The world was spinning around him now and there was only the sound of rushing water in his ears. Tears escaped from the corners of his frightened bulging eyes; eyes that stared helplessly into the face of his killer. It was a face that resembled a marble white bust of some legendary greek god. Only THIS marble face had eyes as black as coals, and its mouth was curled into a cruel sneer. That face was just inches away from Derek's staring at him, staring through him, eagerly anticipating his demise.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE" screamed Lan, as she frantically flicked droplets of holy water at the black mass.

The cloud / entity shrieked and evaporated into thin air, releasing Derek who fell to the ground. Lan rushed to Derek's motionless form, quickly removing the camera strap from around his neck. She shined the light on Derek's face and was terrified to see that Derek's eyes were wide open, and non responsive to the light being shined into them.

"Derek?" Lan spoke, "Derek wake up". She shook his shoulders, but there was no response.

She pressed her middle finger hard against his jugular vein, and lowered her cheek just above his mouth and nose to detect breathing. There was no pulse, and she could not feel his breath.

"Oh Jesus no…" cried Lan. "Derek wake up. Derek PLEASE !"

Derek's eyes remained open as Lan roughly tilted his head back to administer breathing and CPR. She pressed her mouth to his, and gave him two deep breaths. Then she proceeded with the chest compressions.

"Come on Derek, wake up!" begged Lan, pumping his chest, but his eyes remained lifeless and unresponsive.

"For the love of God Please don't leave me here!"

Lan was crying now, pumping away at his chest, then administering mouth to mouth. She continues to perform CPR as everything seems to fade to black. Her crying is still audible in the darkness…

_**************TO BE CONTINUED…*******************_

_**-Roll the ENDING CREDITS**_


	8. Part II: A Nurse Dies,Enter the Darkman

FreakyLinks

Subject: The Vortex

_**Previously on FreakyLinks:**_

_A __**flashback**__ from last week's episode shows images of: Derek, Lan, and Jason visiting a friend of Adam's named Nathan Adler in Waltham Massachusetts. Nathan promises to take the gang on a ghost tour of the infamous, Massachusetts State Hospital, and invites them all to stay at HIS place. __**The flashback **__continues by showing Derek and Lan scouting the hospital by themselves, and ignoring the little girl's warnings. Then there are clips of Lan getting captured, Derek, tied down and tortured, and also their struggle with Virginia Dare, and their failed escape attempt in the Death Tunnel. The last clip shows Lan frantically performing CPR on Derek in the pitch black death tunnel, and the camera fades to black._

_**TEASER: **__[Note: this teaser is filmed in black and white!]_

At first, there is darkness. But then the camera slowly fades in, revealing a much newer looking version of Massachusetts State Hospital, at night time. It is late September, in the year, 1958 [_**as**_

_** indicated in a caption on the bottom screen]**_. The song: "Yes I'm Ready" by Barbara Mason, can be heard playing. The song continues to be heard, echoing throughout the hospital, via intercom.

Inside the massive deserted lobby, a male nurse / receptionist, struggles to stay awake by doodling and making silly, borderline obscene comic strips. The large round clock, hanging on the wall above

him displays the time 2:20a.m.

Downstairs in the basement, the camera slowly travels down the hall way towards the morgue. As the camera gets closer, crying and sobbing can be heard.

Inside the morgue, a beautiful young Nurse, whose name tag says "Emma" clutches a shaking, crying teenage boy to her chest. The boy looks to be about 15 years old. He has light brown hair and

looks very handsome. His lip is cut and bleeding, while his left cheek is swollen and bruised. The boy, Stanley, hugs Emma, tightly; his wrists show signs of being bound with bailing twine. There is

another handsome young teenage boy in the morgue, cowering in the corner, too frightened to move. The boy, Richard, has raven-black hair, and shows signs of having similar injuries. Nurse Emma,

whispers soothingly in Stanley's ear then glares, hatefully, at a balding middle-aged morgue attendant, named: Dawson, leaning against the cadaver storage unit with his arms folded.

"You bastard" seethed Emma, "I know what you've done. You're disgusting!"

"You don't know what you're talking about" snapped Dawson, "and you better keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you".

"Or what" snapped Emma, "What are you going to do about it Dawson? Huh?"

Emma gently removed Stanley's arms from around her waist and murmured something to him. Stanley then nodded and quickly walked over to Richard and helped him up from the corner. Emma

returned her hateful gaze to Dawson, her voice dripping with anger and contempt.

"I'll have the law on you for this! So help me God, you will NEVER touch these boys again, EVER. You hear me? They're going to lock you up and throw away the key!"

Dawson rushed Emma, and grabbed her by the throat. The two young teenage boys, hugged one another and stared silently in horror as Dawson brought his fist down, repeatedly on Emma's face.

Emma tried to scream, but her voice was cut off as Dawson began strangling her. Emma tried scratching and hitting Dawson, but to no avail. Dawson forced Emma on the ground and got on top of her

as he continued strangling the life out of her. The two boys hugged one another, tears streaming down both their faces, as they watched Emma, their beloved nurse, friend, and playmate, die a

horrible agonizing death.

Emma no longer stirred, but Dawson continued to squeeze her throat, even as Stevenson, the security guard Dawson bribed [to procure the boys], walked in on him.

"Jesus Dawson" spoke Stevenson nonchalantly, "Why'd you have to go and do Miss Emma like that?"

"The bitch was going to rat us out to the police. We have to get rid of her."

Dawson finally released his grip on Emma's throat, and got up, taking a deep breath. Stevenson continued to look down on Emma's lifeless body. He shook his head, sadly.

"That's too bad" sighed Stevenson with regret, "She had nice legs."

Stevenson, continued staring at Emma, as Dawson approached the young boys huddled in the corner. Stanley and Richard were terrified of both Dawson and Stevenson. The things they had done to

the boys are too vile to describe.

"You better get these two back to their rooms, before someone else notices they're gone. I'll take care of her."

Stevenson nods and walks over to the boys, drawing out his Billy club.

"Alright you two, get up!"

The boys were too slow to respond, and Stevenson brings the club down hard, on each boy's back, causing them both to whimper and cry.

"I said GET UP!"

Stanley and Richard complied and Stevenson herded them out of the morgue and down the hallway towards the elevator four doors down. When they reached the elevator, Richard reached out to

press the button, and Stevenson cracked the boy's hand with his club, causing him to scream out in pain.

"Don't touch that. Just back away!"

Richard cried softly, rubbing and sucking on his swollen black and blue knuckles, when he and Stanley noticed someone watching them from the opposite end of the hallway. Stevenson pressed the

elevator button several times but there was no response. He cursed at the equipment and checked his pockets for the key to activate the elevator. As he searched for the keys, Stanley and Richard

continued staring at the man down the hallway. At first glance, the man appeared to be just a regular maintenance man. The man looked to be about in his late 20s. He had strong, handsome

features, and his platinum blond hair was short and slicked back. If it weren't for the dirty grey coveralls, one would swear the man was a movie star. But there was something not right about the man.

For one thing, the man's skin color was porcelain white (like that of an albino), AND the man also had large black eyes, that shined underneath the florescent lighting like obsidian, or glass.

At last, Stevenson managed to unlock the elevator door, unaware of the "man's" presence. Stanley and Richard turned around to see Stevenson enter the elevator to inspect the control panel. Just

then, the doors slid shut, and the boys could hear Stevenson shouting and pounding on the elevator doors. Suddenly, the elevator lifted up and away at an accelerated speed, and Stevenson's

muffled voice went along with it. The two boys looked at each other bewildered, and they both touched and fingered the closed elevator door. Stanley and Richard, froze suddenly, and slowly turned

their heads to their left. The Man, was no longer standing at the opposite end of the hallway; Instead, the man was standing right next to them, holding a large glass jar.

The two boys stared silently at the scary, strange-looking man. Without making a sound, the man with black eyes stretched his arms out to Stanley, offering him the jar. At first, poor Stanley did not

budge, but he could feel those black eyes staring at him, staring through him, and he didn't like it. So Stanley cautiously took the large jar, and held it in his arms, against his chest. Stanley could feel

faint movement inside the jar, but he dare not look inside it. Then the Man turned to Richard, who instinctively took a step back. The Man's eyes, however, seemed to burn inside Richard's mind, and

the poor boy eventually stepped forward and held out his hand. Unable to look at the Man, Richard shut his eyes tightly and turned his face away. As he did this, Richard felt the man take his hand

firmly (his hand was cold as ICE), and the Man pressed something long and wooden into Richard's hand, then let it go.

Richard slowly opened his eyes and turned his head to see what it was the Man gave him. It was a hammer. Nothing extraordinary about it, just a plain simple claw hammer, one would find in a tool

box. Stanley and Richard looked at one another, and then they looked at the Man. The Man continued staring down at the poor boys with his shiny black eyes, willing them…

Inside the morgue, Dawson carried Emma's body in his arms and stretched her out on one of the autopsy tables. He still was uncertain as to how he would dispose of her, but he walked away to find a

body bag to place her in. Finding one in a pile next to the sink, Dawson picked it up and proceeded to straighten it out…He never even saw Richard come at him with the hammer. With one swift strike,

Richard brought the hammer down on Dawson's forehead, knocking him to the ground. Dawson was dazed by the attack, and was quickly subdued by Richard. The dark haired boy, straddled Dawson,

pinning his arms to his sides with his legs, as Stanley stepped forward and held the jar above Dawson's face. Richard forced Dawson's mouth open with one hand, and Dawson was still too disoriented

to realize what was happening. As his vision started to clear, Dawson saw Stanley holding a large glass jar over his head. Before Dawson could resist, the jar tilted pouring out a mixture of large

spiders and centipedes into his open mouth. At first Dawson tried to scream, but he found himself choking and then suffering from being bitten inside and out from the insects. Moments later, Dawson

started convulsing as pink foam and insects escaped from his open mouth. Minutes later, Dawson's eyes rolled back and his head dropped back on the ground with a hard cracking sound. He was

dead….

Richard slowly got up from his straddling position, and he looked at Stanley. Stanley looked back at Richard. Both their eyes held a mixture of anger, sadness, and resignation. They both turned their

gaze to the body of their beloved nurse, Emma.

Emma was now being wheeled out of the morgue, her body still on the autopsy table, but this time, her hands had been folded into a prayerful position. The table was being moved by both Stanley

and Richard. With somber expressions, the two young teenagers wheel her body slowly and quietly down the other hall, and eventually through the two double green doors. The Man with black eyes

watched them with a lop-sided smile as the two boys opened the doors, and wheeled Nurse Emma into the Death Tunnel. The Man continued watching them, even as the boys and Emma's body

disappeared into the blackness….

_***********Cue FreakyLinks Opening Credits***********_


	9. At Death's Door

**Subject: The Vortex ()**

**Act I**

At first, the screen appears black. Then a flash of white noise as if someone has changed the channel. The camera flashes on to reveal Derek lying on the ground. His lifeless eyes stare up at the

ceiling, as Lan gives him mouth to mouth. She then resumes chest compressions, pleading with him frantically to wake up. But there is no response. Lan then straddles Derek. Making fists, she

frantically beats down on his chest where his heart is; this is an obsolete method of reviving someone, but Lan is desperate. Unfortunately, she is forced to give up, when failing to discover a pulse.

Lan looks at Derek, his eyes are still open, so she gingerly closes his eye lids. Lan then slides off of Derek, and pushes herself against the wall. She lets out a loud frustrated scream before breaking

down crying. Turning her back towards Derek she continues to sob, clutching the flashlight with both hands. Lan felt so alone and helpless. Derek, her best friend, the guy she secretly pined for, was

now dead. What would happen now? Would she be next? Or would the dark forces of this hospital leave her alone? Lan didn't know and she didn't care. Derek was dead, and with it, her desire to

fight. Several minutes seem to pass by as Lan continued to cry and ponder her own fate. Then suddenly, she jumps, startled by the sound of someone gasping for air. Turning around, she shines the

light to see Derek, now animated and coughing, gasping, for air.

"DEREK" Lan cries, as she crawls back to him and touches his face.

Lan holds the light above her so it doesn't shine directly into Derek's eyes. His complexion is pale, there is a distinct burn mark around his throat, and his eyes, now animated, are wide with fear. He

continues to breathe and cough heavily as Lan strokes his forehead comfortingly. His breathing slows down alittle and he closes his eyes, while Lan runs her fingers through his hair. A throaty groan

escapes Derek's lips, as he gave into her tender caress. Smelling Lan's perfume, the sweet smell of roses and orange blossoms, lulled Derek into a warm sense of security. For a brief moment, Derek

had forgotten their predicament and opened his eyes. Seeing the mixture of fear and sadness in Lan's face, suddenly made Derek sick to his stomach.

This was all his fault. It WAS his fault that he and Lan were trapped here, fighting for their lives. If only he hadn't been so reckless and stupid. Why didn't he listen to her? Lan, she truly _was_ the

sunshine of his darkness. And right now, she was his angel; his lovely Porter Rican angel. If anything happened to Lan, _anything_, Derek knew he could never live with himself. Somehow, he had to find

a way to get Lan out of this mess, and himself, along with her. With this in mind, Derek began the painful and arduous task of sitting up right. It was excruciating for Derek, as his head began to throb

and his entire body was wracked with pain. Lan tried forcing him to lie still.

"No" protested Derek weakly, "we have to get out of this tunnel. It might try to attack us again."

Lan watched as Derek struggled to sit up. He appeared to be weak and disoriented. While Derek was catching his breath, Lan shined her flashlight, checking out both ends of the tunnel. It was

completely pitch black, the light offered very little visibility. Derek started to stand up, and he grunted in pain. Lan quickly lifted up his arms over her shoulders, giving him the support he needed.

When he finally stood up, Derek leaned himself against the wall to catch his breath, and clear his head. Lan's flashlight fell upon the video camera lying on the ground, still recording. She walked over

to pick up, and assessed the damage. It appeared to be functioning okay. Flipping it around, Lan switched the camera mode on to night vision, and she sighed with relief, as the camera now improved

their visibility.

"I think we should go back to that exit" Lan said. "We're not too far away from it, and we may have a good chance of escaping"

Derek strongly disagreed. His gut was telling him otherwise. But considering HE got them into this mess, Derek kept this opinion to himself. Besides, may be they would get lucky, and the doors would,

in fact, be open. It was a calculated risk, but they had to take it.

"Alright" spoke Derek finally, "Let's do it. But if we get there and find the doors sealed shut…"

Derek looked at Lan, his baby blue eyes, stared sharply into her eyes. He took the camera from Lan's hand, but before she could withdraw her hand, Derek took it and squeezed it firmly.

"…if they're shut Lan, we'll turn around, and we'll run like hell."

Lan bit her lip. She forced a brave facial expression and nodded in agreement. Derek walked forward, still holding Lan's hand. Holding the camera up, Derek observed the long dark hallway. At first,

they made their way cautiously through the hallway, but they eventually broke into a brisk jog, eventually reaching the double doors. They stopped just a few feet away from the doors. From where

they were standing, Lan and Derek could clearly make out the chain wrapped around the door handles once more, with the lock clamped back into place. The two looked at one another briefly and

quickly backed away. Then they turned, without a word, and started running as fast as they could.

Derek led the way, holding his night vision camera to show the way, pulling Lan behind them. They continued to run down the tunnel for what seemed like a couple of minutes, when something large

zipped between them with blinding speed. This caused Derek and Lan to trip and fall hard on the damp smelly ground. Derek managed to hold on to the camera firmly, which was a blessing; No sooner

did he manage to sit back up, then he heard Lan scream. Turning around fast, he saw Lan scrambling on the ground towards him, trying to reach the holy water she dropped. But something pulled her

away from it and she cried for Derek's help.

"LAN!"

Derek peered into the camera, and to his horror, he saw a solid black cloud, or mass, covering Lan, who was still struggling to get away. He observed Lan, being rolled onto her back, as if by invisible

hands. Then the "invisible hands" seemed to grab Lan's wrists, pinning them against the ground.

"Derek help me" cried Lan, struggling as the black mass completely covered her.

Lan's cries quickly turned into desperate screams, followed by the sound of ripping fabric.

"NO" screamed Derek, "Leaver her alone!" He frantically pulled the amulet out of his pocket, and held it out in front of him. He cursed and screamed at the black mass.

"STOP!" Derek commanded, "Leave us alone. Go away and Leave us both alone!"

For a moment, Derek's command appeared to be working. The dark mass slowly lifted, revealing Lan's crying form. Her white tank top was torn and her flowing crimson skirt had been pulled a couple

inches above her knees. Though he was standing about a foot away, Derek could plainly see human-like bite marks on her neck and deep scratches on her chest.

"You son of a Bitch…" spoke Derek with contempt, "GO TO HELL! YOU HEAR ME? I SAID GO TO HELL!"

But to Derek's horror, the Black mass did NOT obey. Instead, the black mass rushed Derek and knocked him on the ground with incredible force. This causes Derek to lose his grip on both his camera

and the amulet, and though he tries to get away, the black mass now pins Derek's wrists and ankles to the ground, even forcing them apart. Derek feels tremendous pressure on his chest and

struggles to breathe, when he hears a voice, that causes him to panic.

"You're a good looking boy" spoke a male voice with a New England accent, "I'm gonna enjoy getting te know ya boy. Yessir, you & I are gonna be REAL close".

"No" pleaded Derek.

He gasped and struggled, but he was unable to move. And then he felt the hands. They were invisible hands, and Derek cried out in protest and cringed as he felt those invisible hands, stroke his lips,

his neck, then travel down his chest, towards his naval. And just as Derek's nightmare was about to get worse, Derek's ghostly assailant suddenly screamed and released him, vanishing into thin air.

For a brief moment there was total darkness. But a sudden beam of light stung his eyes, and he quickly found himself pulled into Lan's embrace. She hugged Derek tightly, and he hugged her back. But

he quickly broke away, and forced himself to get up.

"Come on, we got to get out of this tunnel fast!"

Lan and Derek groped through the tunnel until they found his camera, but to both their dismay, the amulet was nowhere in sight. The last thing Derek wanted, was to leave the amulet behind. He did

not even want to consider the consequences of what would happen, if it were to fall into the hands of "fearsome" spirits like Virgina Dare, and that Thing that tried to violate him. But it appeared he

had no choice. They resumed their sprint through the tunnel.

Upstairs, the massive lobby was quiet and vacant. But the deafening silence was broken by the sound of heavy metal doors being pushed opened and closed, and the sound of running footsteps.

Derek and Lan had made it to the upstairs, and stood before the hospital entrance. Bright bluish light from the outside lamplight, shined through the wire-meshed glass windows, lighting just a small

section of the lobby. Derek and Lan paused for a moment to catch their breaths. They looked at each other, and then walked towards the entrance, and pulled the door handle. It would not budge.

"NO" shouted Derek, frantically pulling both door handles.

Lan, feeling cold, hugged herself and watched helplessly as Derek pulled and struggled with the door. Derek continued pulling on the handles, with no success. He then pulled his sweater sleeves over

his hands and started hitting the glass with all of his might. He punched and pounded the glass, until a series of cracks traveled throughout the glass panes; but it was no use. The glass still wouldn't

break, and even if Derek could manage to break it, he would never be able to rip out the mesh wiring in between the glass panes.

Derek gave the window one last frustrated blow with his fist before leaning his head against the door in defeat. Slowly, he turned around to see Lan. Her back was turned to him, and she was sniffling.

Derek could see in the pale blue lamplight, that she was shivering, and some of scratches on her arms were still bleeding.

Lan continued sniffling, fighting back her tears, and fighting back feelings of despair as she turned around to look at Derek. He was standing by the window, and she watched as Derek crossed his

arms and pulled his grey sweater over his head, revealing a tight fitting black long sleeved undershirt. Removing the sweater caused Derek's other shirt to lift up, revealing his perfect abs, and Lan

could not help but stare. But she soon snapped out of her trance when noticing Derek walk up to her.

"Here" said Derek softly, " you better put this on, it'll keep you warm".

Derek helped Lan slip the sweater on., and after they adjusted it according to her comfort, Derek, gently pulled Lan into a hug, and she broke down in his arms crying.

"We're gonna be okay" spoke Derek, fighting back his own tears. "I promise I'll get you out of this."

His hug tightened, and he rested his cheek on the crown of Lan's head. The smell of her perfume, caused Derek to squeeze his eyes shut tightly, fighting back his own tears. But it was a losing battle…

_************Cut to Commercial Break**************_


	10. Almost Dying, Makes You Think

_**********Return from Commercial Break************_

**Act II pt.1.**

The halls of Massachusetts State Hospital were silent and filled with darkness. But the hospital knew darkness, long before the first brick was laid. There was always something strange, and unusual

about the land it was built upon. Even the Indians regarded the land with both fear and superstition. But none of this history seemed to matter to Derek or Lan, at the moment.

Battered and bruised, the two friends sat on the floor, resting their backs against the locked entrance doors. Derek was tired, his throat ached horribly, and he was dying of thirst. But he did not dare

mention his grievances to poor Lan. Derek knew Lan shared his pain, and no amount of whining would make things any better. He continued to stare at his friend, who was desperately fighting to stay

awake.

"Hey" Derek spoke weakly, "you should get some rest".

Lan looked at Derek, tired and alittle perplexed. He couldn't be serious, Lan thought to herself. Even if she _could_ work up the courage to lay down, the place was nasty. Plus, the few couches in the

lobby that _were_ intact were dirty, encrusted with rodent feces, and they smelled of urine. But Derek gently slipped his arm around Lan, pulling her towards him. She resisted him, weakly, but soon gave

in, allowing Derek to cushion her head and shoulders on his lap. Lan moaned, tiredly, as she closed her eyes, feeling Derek, rubbing her arms, comfortingly. Feeling warm and comfy, Lan smiled. Seeing

her smile, made Derek smile in spite of himself. Although, now, he hated himself more than ever for putting her in danger. Without even realizing it, Derek's hand went from rubbing Lan's shoulders, to

caressing her face and neck, tenderly. Lan, her eyes still closed, moaned.

"Thank you" she murmured as she continued to smile.

Slowly, Lan shifted her position, and she forced her eyes to open. When her bleary vision cleared, Lan, could just barely make out Derek's sad, remorseful expression as he stared down at her. Then,

without warning, Derek slipped his left arm, underneath Lan's head and neck, and gently drew her to him. Lan's breath caught in her throat. She didn't know what Derek was doing, and yet, she didn't

dare fight it. When he lifted her close enough to him, Derek leaned in towards Lan's face, his lips were parted slightly. Lan waited breathlessly, as Derek leaned in, and gently pressed his quivering lips

against her lips. At first, Lan was frozen in disbelief; she couldn't believe that this moment, the moment she had wished for and fantasized about for so long, was _finally_ happening. Derek Barnes, her

best friend in the whole wide world, the man of her dreams, was finally kissing her. Lan lifted her hand, her fingers caressed Derek's cheek before sliding behind his neck, as he continued to kiss her.

Finally, Derek pulled away to look at Lan, hoping he hadn't upset her. In the pale blue lamplight, Derek could see Lan's, eyes, locked with his; her eyes were brimming with affection for him. The two

embraced tightly, resuming their kiss. And they continued to kiss for quite some time. But then, Derek pulled away from Lan and gently separated from her. Lan was confused and suddenly hurt,

thinking that Derek regretted kissing her.

"I'm sorry Lan…I shouldn't have done that".

"What?….oh I see" spoke Lan softly, her eyes were suddenly beginning to tear. Realizing what he said, Derek scrambled to find the words.

"No Lan, that's not what I meant! I mean I…I wanted to kiss you, I enjoyed kissing you, and I'd love to kiss you some more".

Lan's expression was one of confusion, as Derek continued.

"It's just that…just that…" Derek looked into Lan's sad confused eyes. He cared about her so much, and right now, he'd give anything in the world to have her.

"It's just that…I don't _deserve_ to kiss you. Don't you see? This is all my fault. We're in this mess because of _me_."

Lan didn't speak. She could see the torment in Derek's face. He tore his gaze from Lan, and looked at the camera next to him. Feeling the heat build up inside of him, Derek pushed the camera from him

in disgust. He shoved it with such force, that it slid across the floor, hitting the reception desk.

"God Damn it! So stupid!" growled Derek as he pounded his right fist against the door behind him. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"Derek, stop!" pleaded Lan, putting her hands on his shoulders, squeezing them. "It's not your fault!"

"Oh no?" asked Derek, his eyes glared angrily into her eyes. "If it's not my fault then who's is it?"

Derek's eyes unnerved Lan, and she withdrew her hands from him, cautiously moving away.

"You told me we should have waited for the others, but I insisted we go forward." Derek's eyes became alittle softer, as they started to fill with tears. He looked down at his knees as he continued.

"When I saw you…in the tunnel, being hurt by that…thing…I felt so helpless…" Derek breathed in a ragged sigh. "If _anything _ever happened to you, Lan…I could never forgive myself." His hands

tightened into fists. "And this…This isn't the first time I've let something bad happen to someone I love…" Derek shook his head in disgust, and let it fall on his knees. Lan, moved up close to Derek,

wrapping her arms around him.

"Stop it Derek, please?" She squeezed him tightly. "Please stop blaming yourself. You didn't know this would happen….It's like you said: 'who ever heard of ghosts attacking people in the daytime?'"

Derek lifted his head up to look at her. His eyes were still misty and filled with self loathing. Lan stroked the back of his neck and spoke soothingly.

"You saved us from Virginia, and you saved me from that black thing in the tunnel. Derek I have faith in you. I know you'll get us out of this. We've been in tight spots before".

Derek's eyes softened. "Yea, I guess…" Derek said finally, "But right now, I think I'd rather face off with an army of Desert Squids and Skunk Apes, than ghosts.."

Lan slid herself closer to Derek, and Derek repositioned himself, so he could hold her in his lap. She rested her head on his chest as Derek slid his arms around her.

"We'll get through this Derek, I know we will". Derek said nothing, instead, he squeezed Lan tightly.

Suddenly, without warning, the entrance doors began shaking violently. Derek and Lan cried out and jumped up simultaneously. They stood frozen, watching the doors continue to rattle, when Derek

finally worked up the courage to investigate the cause. Inspecting the doors and the windows, his eyes suddenly widened and he pressed his hands hard against the windows.

"Madison" shouted Derek, "Please get us out of here!"

Outside, was Madison, struggling to get the doors open. Her small face beamed with hope, when seeing Derek still alive. She also saw Lan rush to the window and relief washed over her.

"Derek, Lan…you're okay!"

All three of them shared a relieved smile, but it soon faded. Madison's expression was desperate.

"The guard's unconscious. I couldn't get him to wake up, so I ran back, hoping I could get back in." She paused for a moment. " I shoulda brought his key ring. I'll go back and get it, may be there's a

key to these doors".

Madison started running down the stairs, but stopped when hearing Derek and Lan pounding desperately on the windows and doors, begging her to stop.

"Madison don't!" cried Derek, "It isn't safe!"

"We were hurt by the Dark Man, sweetie" spoke Lan, "he did really bad things to us. Please don't go back there, it's too dangerous!"

Madison stared helplessly at Derek and Lan. The pale blue lamplight, illuminated their injuries for Madison to see. The little girl was afraid.

"But there's gotta be a way I can help you!" Madison spoke exasperated.

She looked around herself, not knowing what to do. She lived about a mile away from the hospital, and she arrived here on foot. She was too afraid to run home by herself, in the dark. Just then,

Derek tapped on the window.

"Hey Madison, I got an idea." She looked up at him, giving Derek her full attention.

"Okay sweetie…you see that jeep down there?" Madison nodded. "Okay…go in the jeep, Madison. Somewhere, I forget if it's the glove box, or under the seat, but SOMEWHERE, you should find a cell

phone. Find it and bring it up here."

Madison nodded, and scrambled down the stairs, in a flash. Lan and Derek watched as Madison crawled into the jeep and seemed to disappear out of sight. To Derek and Lan, the few short minutes

Madison spent inside the jeep, felt like an eternity to them. They waited with bated breath, for Madison to emerge from the jeep. At last, Madison, exited the vehicle, waving the small black device in

her hand. Derek and Lan, smiled, breathing a huge sigh of relief as Madison raced back up to the entrance.

Before Derek could give her further instructions, Madison flipped open the cell phone, and pressed a button for the menu screen.

"Okay" spoke Madison, "I'm in the phone number section. Who do you want me to contact?"

"Okay" spoke Derek, "scroll down until you come to the last name, Ad…"

"Adler? Nathan Adler?" interrupted Madison.

Derek and Lan were speechless. "Uh…yea! How did you know" asked Derek.

"I know who he is. I see him here all the time, ghost hunting with his friends. I'm calling him right now".

Madison proceeded to punch the 'call button' on Nathan Adler's phone number. As she did this, Derek and Lan turned towards each other and smiled. Relief continued washing over them as they

embraced.

"Oh Derek" whispered Lan, "it's over. We're saved".

"We're not out of the woods yet Lan," spoke Derek, pulling gently away from her.

He stopped for a moment, to gaze at Lan. She was so beautiful, even now, despite the scratches and bruises to her face and neck. He swallowed hard, shaking alittle from nervousness. Derek tried to

make eye contact with Lan, but he felt himself grow increasingly warm. It was now or never.

"Lan" spoke Derek nervously, "what happened between us…"

"Oh…yes?" Lan asked, equally nervous. She felt anxious and confused.

"I…w-would like…that is if _you_ didn't mind…I thought maybe…"

"Yes?" Lan held her breath. For God's sakes Derek just spit it out, she thought to herself.

"I would l-like to…have a relationship with you" Derek breathed nervously, "that is….that is, if you don't mind….but if you don't want to…"

"I want to" spoke Lan quickly, "I want to have a relationship with you, Derek, I've always wanted to have a relationship with you".

Derek finally made eye contact with Lan; she looked so beautiful in the lamplight. He cupped her face in his hands and pulled her into a gentle, loving kiss. Lan closed her eyes and gently wrapped her

arms around Derek's waist, as they continued kissing. Madison could see everything that was happening, through the window as she waited for someone to answer Nathan's phone. Madison rolled

her eyes in disgust and turned her back towards them. Eventually, Lan and Derek pulled out of the kiss, and resumed holding each other.

"Oh Derek" spoke Lan, "you have no idea how long I've waited for this."

"For what" asked Derek jokingly, "us, starting a relationship, or us, getting kidnapped and terrorized by ghosts?"

Lan looked up at Derek, who was smiling, slightly. She cocked her eye at him.

"That's not funny, Derek" spoke Lan.

"You're right, I apologize". Derek continued to hug Lan, not wanting to let her go. He tore his gaze from Lan, and glanced through the window at Madison, who was walking back and forth, with the cell

phone at her ear.

_**End of Part 1.**_


	11. Enter Chloe

**ACT II, pt. 2**

_**Elsewhere:**_

The Camera quickly flashes from Madison, pacing outside the abandoned hospital on Derek's cell phone, to a warm, cozy living room in Nathan Adler's house. Inside the living room, Jason, is sitting on a

large comfy leather couch next to the skinny attractive blonde girl, he was flirting with during the cookout. But it's clear from Jason's bored, tired expression, that things are developing way too slowly.

But the blonde girl, whose name is Devina, doesn't notice this. She's too engrossed in an old 1920's Mickey Mouse short entitled: The Haunted House. Devina giggles as she watches poor Mickey being

cornered in a locked room, by a menacing robed figure. As the figure draws closer to Mickey Mouse, it lifts up its hood, revealing a scary skeleton face. Devina laughs as Jason rolls his eyes and lets his

head fall back on the couch. Devina, turns to look at Jason, and instantly senses his boredom.

"What's a matter, Jason" asked Devina, "don't you like Mickey Mouse?"

"Oh no" answered Jason, sarcastically, "I love watching Mickey Mouse cartoons….yep…can't think of a better past time".

Devina stares at Jason. Her expression suddenly turns from cheerful, to disappointed.

"Well" spoke Devina, "excuse me…"

She clicks the remote with a sharp gesture, causing the television to switch from Mickey Mouse, to Sports Center. Devina sets the remote down on the glass coffee table and makes a graceful exit to

another part of the house. Jason lets out a disgusted sigh and grabs another slice of pizza, taking a huge bite out of it, while grabbing his beer off the coffee table. With one swig, Jason kills the bottle,

when he hears the doorbell ring. Nathan's wife, Amy, goes to answer the door.

"OH MY GOD, HI" cried Amy in a loud, excited, voice.

Turning around, Jason craned his neck in the direction of the hallway. He smiled when seeing "Chloe" enter the house. Amy and Chloe embrace and exchange kisses. Nathan, shows up from the

kitchen, and joins in, forming a group hug. Jason, continues to smile. He was happy to see Chloe.

"Oh my God, Chloe" spoke Nathan, "It's been forever. How the hell are you?"

"I'm good" spoke Chloe with a brisk smile, "have you seen Derek around?"

Nathan and Amy continued to smile, even as their expressions showed some confusion. They both looked at one another and hesitated.

"I'm sorry guys" apologized Chloe, "I'm not trying to be rude. I know I haven't seen you in a while, but it's very important that I talk to Derek. Is he here?"

Nathan hesitated at first.

"We sent Derek and Lan back to town to pick up their things from the hotel. We're having them stay here" he answered, finally.

"Yea baby…" added Amy, "But that was 2:30 this afternoon….It's almost 9:00 now…"

Nathan and Amy exchanged looks as Chloe stared at them, with a concerned expression. Jason, joins the group, not realizing what's going on. He greets Chloe with a big warm hug.

"Hey girl" spoke Jason, "glad to see you made it. I thought you had a conference to go to in Pittsburgh."

"I did. But I backed out of it" replied Chloe, "Jason, can I talk to you real quick?"

Jason looked at Chloe. He could tell by her stern expression and tense demeanor, that something was up. So Jason, shrugged and followed Chloe into the living room while Amy and Nathan stared

after them. Chloe pulled Jason out of earshot.

"Chloe, what's going on, what's the matter" asked Jason.

Chloe hesitated at first, biting her lip. But then she sighed and made eye contact with Jason.

"I was getting into my car around noon to drive to the airport, when this fell out of my visor".

Chloe reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small prayer card, with the famous painting, depicting Saint Michael, the Arch Angel, conquering Satan. On the back of the card, a prayer was written on it.

"As soon as I found this card, Vince Eisling, appeared out of nowhere sitting in the back seat. Scared the living daylights out of me…"

Jason rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Man" muttered Jason, "I am getting sick and tired of that guy….what did he want this time?"

Chloe's eyes locked with Jason's. "His exact words?" Chloe paused, "he told me to change my flight plans and get my tail to Waltham Massachusetts, or else I'd never see Derek alive again".

Jason stared at Chloe, in disbelief. "What" asked Jason, "H-how, why…"

"He didn't say" continued Chloe, "and before I could question him further, he vanished into thin air!"

Jason, breathed a disgusted sigh, shaking his head, as Chloe folded her arms, and fidgeted nervously. Jason put his hands on his hips.

"Jason, I'm scared. For one thing, Vince has NEVER approached me before. He's always sought out Derek. And another thing, his warning was very direct; he didn't speak in riddles…"

Jason looked at Chloe, his irritated expression, quickly turned to great concern. He knew Chloe was right. It wasn't like Vince Eisling to approach anyone other than Derek, and usually it was with some

dumb, frustrating riddle they all had to work to solve. Something was definitely up.

"Did you try calling Derek, to let him know what happened?"

"Yes Jason, I did." answered Chloe, sharply. "I tried calling him, about 10 times, before and after my flight, but I kept getting static!"

"Guys…" interjected Amy.

Jason and Chloe looked and saw Amy and Nathan standing in the fresh hold, of the living room.

"I don't want to alarm you…but I just got off the phone with Russ. He runs the motel you guys checked into. I just talked to him and he said that Derek and Lan never showed up to check out."

"Is he sure about that" asked Jason.

Amy shook her head 'yes' , then looked to Nathan. "Baby, you don't think they could have gone exploring the hospital, do you?"

Nathan shot Amy a worried look. "Jesus, I hope not" spoke Nathan, shifting uncomfortably.

Chloe looked at Nathan, Amy, and then Jason.

"Hospital? What are you talking about? What hospital?"

Nathan hesitated.

"I promised Derek I'd allow him, Jason, and Lan access to a paranormal investigation. I was leading one at Massachusetts State Hospital".

"Massachusetts State…" Chloe trailed off

"It's an abandoned mental hospital that's supposed to be notorious and haunted" Jason added. "Nathan, was gonna take us on a tour, once the rest of his team got back, from wherever".

Amy started wringing her hands, while Nathan started pacing back and forth nervously. Both Chloe and Jason, could see they were particularly worried about the prospect of Derek being at the

hospital.

"Guys" spoke Chloe, "what's going on, what aren't you telling us?"

Nathan stopped pacing and looked at Chloe and Jason. He sighed.

"Jason…I wasn't forthcoming with you guys, when I first told you about the old hospital….I was hoping, that if you didn't know too much about the place, you were less likely to go off exploring it by

yourselves". He paused. "The truth is, guys, that place IS haunted; and it's VERY dangerous".

Jason and Chloe stood silently, waiting for Nathan to continue.

"The old Massachusetts State Hospital is a major hot bed of strong poltergeist activity, and full body apparitions. It gets dangerous real fast, if you're not careful and take the right precautions".

Nathan started shifting uncomfortably, once more.

"A lot of good colleagues of mine, have been seriously injured, because they've walked in there, unprepared… I was holding off on taking you guys there, because I was waiting for Bruce, our resident

psychic, to come back from his vacation".

Nathan paused, massaging the back of his neck, which had now become tight. Devina walks into the living room and quickly picks up on the tension floating through the air. She looks back and forth

from Jason and Chloe, to Amy and Nathan.

"But apparently" Nathan continued, "Derek did his homework, and not only did he find out about it's history and activity, but he managed to find directions as well…"

"What? Oh my God. Nathan, I'm so sorry!" cried Devina covering her mouth with both hands.

"I told Derek how to get there. I'm so sorry it just slipped!"

Nathan stared at Devina, trying hard not to be angry, or to make her feel worse than she already did. But this was not good. Nathan opened his mouth, getting ready to criticize her, when suddenly,

Nathan's house phone rang. Amy rushed over to the small wooden desk where the phone sat in its charger, and picked up the small bulky caller I.d. device, attached to it.

"It's Derek" Amy cried, "Oh thank God, it's Derek".

Nathan quickly ran to the telephone and answered it, as Amy closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. Jason and Chloe quickly paced to where Amy and Nathan were, in order to be included in the

conversation.

"Hello Derek…" spoke Nathan in a tense tone, but suddenly there was a long pause, as Nathan's expression turned from tense, to astonished.

"Maddie…? Is that you…? I…wha…where are you, what are you doing on Derek's phone?"

There was another long pause as Nathan listened to Madison talk on the phone.

"Uh-huh….yea…" Nathan closed his eyes and sighed. His expression confirmed everybody's worst fears.

"…So Derek and Lan got captured, ok…huh?….what, who?….Virginia Dare!…"

Chloe and Jason's jaws dropped, and they both gasped simultaneously. Nathan picked up on their scared reaction and watched as they exchanged worried looks.

"…Okay Maddie, slow down…honey…you're not making any sense…No! Maddie, I DO believe you. I promise, we're coming over right now… what?...the dark man?"

"_Oh CRAP!"_ whispered Nathan, as he continued listening to Madison over the phone.

"…But they're okay, right?…uh-huh…how bad are they hurt, can you tell?…..Okay Madison, listen to me VERY carefully. I want you to tell Derek and Lan, that we're on our way. Tell them, no matter what

happens, do NOT leave the lobby. If they have any holy water left, tell them to draw a barrier, to keep the dark man and all other bad spirits away from them…okay? I'm gonna hang up the phone now,

and Amy is gonna call you back, and stay with you on the phone until we get there. Okay?….Good, I'll call you back."

He hung up the phone and quickly ran to his study, while Amy quickly dialed Derek's number on her cell phone. Devina, Chloe and Jason, followed Nathan into his study and watched as he ran from

closet to drawers, grabbing various equipment, and two large duffle bags. He tosses one of the empty bags to Devina.

"Devina, go upstairs and grab as many holy water bottles you can fit in there, along with crucifixes and holy medallions." He gives her a stern, disappointed look. "You shouldn't have told him Devina,

you knew very well, how dangerous that place is…"

Devina lowered her head, but then quickly raced out of the room to grab everything Nathan had asked for. Chloe and Jason moved closer to Nathan, to try and offer any assistance.

"What are you doing" asked Chloe, who watched Nathan pack a video camera, some thermal imaging devices, various energy detectors, and a handful of heavy-duty flashlights.

"I'm grabbing some extra gear, just in case" Nathan replied, "these'll help us navigate in the dark, as well as tip us off to any approaching spirits and hostile entities."

He zipped up his duffle bag, and started towards the front door. "And while we're driving, you and Jason can clear some things up for me…starting with this Virginia Dare person"

Jason and Chloe stopped dead in their tracks, exchanging looks.

"You wouldn't believe us" hesitated Chloe.

"It's kind of complicated" added Jason.

"Oh really…" scowled Nathan, "Try me. I'm not as skeptical as you think I am. Besides, I saw the look on your faces when I said that name. We got a 45 minute drive ahead of us, so you both have

plenty of time to tell me the truth and the whole truth. Our friends' lives depend on it…"

_*********Cut to Commercial Break**********_


	12. Disturbing Revelations

_*********Return from Commercial Break**********_

A silver-colored 2001 Honda Civic speeds down the dark, winding road. The same road that Derek Barnes and Lan Williams, traveled just hours ago. Inside the car, Nathan's foot was glued to the gas

peddle. Although he zipped past a speed limit sign reading: 55 miles, Nathan, was easily doing 65 to 70 miles per hour. Sitting beside him in the passenger seat, was his wife, Amy, talking softly

[inaudibly] to Madison on her cell phone. In the back sat: Devina, Jason, and Chloe.

While Nathan continued accelerating his speed, he listened to Chloe as she told him, with great difficulty, _everything_ that she and Derek had experienced, relating to Virginia Dare. With sadness in her

voice, Chloe relived the time Derek approached her, with the picture of Adam at the ATM, sent to Derek anonymously. She talked about how they drew the connection between Adam's suicide, with his

investigation into the missing settlement, Croatoan, and how Virginia Dare was an evil shape-shifting spirit, who attacked them for Adam's amulet. As Chloe finished her story, her eyes were becoming

misty. Jason, took her hand and squeezed it comfortingly, helping her to fight back tears of pain and loss.

"…And that's about it, in a nut shell" Chloe said, looking at Nathan, hoping to discern a reaction from the rear-view mirror. When she didn't get his reaction, Chloe, lowered her head and Jason,

continued holding her hand.

"I don't expect you to believe me" she continued, "HELL, -I- don't even want to believe it….but it DID happen. And poor Adam….." Chloe's eyes were now brimming with tears, "I miss him so much…"

Chloe squeezed Jason's hand.

Nathan swallowed hard, as he focused his attention on the road.

"I'm sorry Chloe. I can understand, now, why you never told us. But please don't fret. We'll get them back safe, I promise. Besides,

Madison, told me that Derek sent Virginia back to Hell with the amulet."

Chloe lifted her head to look up at Nathan and sniffled. She and Jason looked at one another and shared a sad but relieved smile. It felt wonderful, but strange, having someone outside their inner

circle believe them. Devina, remained silent, not sure how to process everything they were saying. But as fantastic as their story was, Devina, still believed them. Chloe shook her head.

"There's just one thing that's really bothering me….Why now? It's almost been one year since Derek and I encountered Virginia. Why attack him now, and why this hospital, of all places?" Chloe sighed,

rubbing her eyes, exasperated. "It just doesn't make any sense."

"Or may be it does…" spoke Nathan, pondering.

"The land, on which the old hospital was built on, has quite a reputation among the Native American tribes, here. For generations, they have referred to that plot of land as 'the Devil's hunting ground'.

None of the tribes EVER set foot on it; not for hunting, not for rituals, nothing. They also considered it a gathering place for evil spirits…"

Jason and Chloe let go of each other's hands and gave Nathan, their full attention.

"During one of our investigations" Nathan continued, " we conducted a series of tests in the daytime, trying to pinpoint sources of energy. We were trying to find other explanations for the paranormal

activity. Usually, it can be something as simple as too much electrical current running through a building, or pockets of electro-magnetic energy, resonating from the ground. What we discovered,

instead, was that Massachusetts State Hospital, was literally built on top a giant Vortex of energy. Our psychic, Bruce, confirmed to us, that spirits, both good and evil, USE Vortexes like this as a portal,

or gateway to travel from here to the netherworld…"

"Oh my God" breathed Chloe, lowering her head as Jason gnashed his teeth.

"So that means Derek and Lan, walked right into a trap…great!"

Nathan, turned his head and gave them a quick glance, but then returned his attention to his driving.

"I wouldn't be too hard on yourselves OR Derek; after all, -I- should've prepared you all better, in the first place. But right now, I'm very worried for Derek and Lan"

Nathan paused.

"Virginia Dare, may be out of the picture, but there are plenty of spirits, even more nasty than she is. The worst of which, being the dark man…."

"Now this entity, my team and I have encountered it quite frequently. He can be very dangerous at times. I don't want to frighten you guys, but it's imperative that you know…the dark man, He is a

demonic entity."

Jason and Chloe, stared silently at Nathan, with worried expressions as Devina fidgeted nervously in her seat. It's clear from her expression, she feels guilty for her part.

"I'm so sorry guys. I didn't mean for any of this to happen…I'm such an idiot" spoke Devina, hanging her head in shame. Jason, tries to console her.

"Hey, hey…relax, don't beat yourself up over this. It was an accident. But man…" Jason sighed, "I wish Derek would stop running off like this."

"You know what he's like Jason" spoke Chloe softly, "he never plans these things out. He just makes it up as he goes along."

"Yea…I know…" responded Jason. But it was clear from his expression, that Jason was growing more and more worried. May be it was Nathan's talk about [the devil's hunting ground], or dangerous

entities slash demons. Whatever it was, Jason was becoming more restless.

"Can this car go any faster, Nathan" asked Jason.

The silver Honda Civic's speed continues to accelerate from 70 miles to 80 miles, in response to Jason's question...


	13. A Lamb to the Slaughter

_**Camera quickly flashes:**_

from Nathan's car speeding along the dark, winding road, to the old abandoned hospital lobby, where Derek continues holding Lan. They sway back and forth, slowly, and it is clear from their posture,

that they're both exhausted, fighting to stay alert. Lan moans, softly, prompting Derek, to shake her just a little.

"Hey" whispered Derek, "Are you okay?"

"Mmmm - Hmmm" nodded Lan, "I'm just a little tired" she murmured.

Lan slowly lifted her head up to look at Derek. He looked like he was in really bad shape. In the pale blue lamp light, Lan could see the strangulation mark around his neck. It looked more purple than

crimson, and she could just make out several dried spots of blood within the mark. Seeing his injury, made Lan sad. She slid her arm up from around Derek's waist, attempting to touch the painful

looking mark, but Derek, grabbed her hand and gently forced it away.

"No" Derek whispered, "It's not that bad. It just stings a little."

Derek made eye contact with Lan (which he quickly regretted), for her eyes, were filled with sadness and worry for him. She wasn't convinced. So Derek tried a different approach.

"God, I can't wait to get out of here" spoke Derek, forcing himself to smile. "I really hope Jason left us some food back at Nathan's house. I could sure go for some Hot Wings and a six pack"

Lan smiled and they both giggled, still misty-eyed.

"What about your favorite stand by, pizza with anchovies" asked Lan.

Derek shook his head, still forcing himself to smile like a Cheshire cat. He laughed to himself, thinking he should be awarded for his acting performance. But Derek knew he needed to be strong for both

of them. When this was over, he could go off somewhere, cry by himself, and lick his wounds. But right now, Lan needed him. Not only that, but the pact they just made to each other to start a

relationship, somehow renewed Derek. It gave him newfound strength to fight.

He brushed one of Lan's bangs away from her face, as his grin receded into a smaller, but more genuine smile. Derek thought to himself: This side trip was the worst idea he ever had…but if _any_ good

came out of it, it was the realization that he needed to rethink his approach, take better care of himself, and his friends; and last but not least, this experience gave him Lan. Just then, Derek was

awoken from his thoughts by the sound of Madison, tapping on the window.

"Guys" shouted Madison, "Nathan said they'll be here soon. He also said to stay in the lobby no matter what. And use the holy water."

Derek and Lan, looked at Madison through the glass.

"Okay Madison, thanks." spoke Derek.

He and Lan exchanged tired smiles and slowly moved closer to the locked doors, when suddenly there was a loud crash. Derek and Lan gasped and spun around, prepared to defend themselves. Lan

clicked on the flashlight and shined it on the large wooden reception desk. Nothing appeared out of place, except for Derek's camera lying on the ground, and…a large, slender book.

"Derek…was that book there before" asked Lan.

Derek stopped for a moment, trying to recollect. Then he looked at Lan, shaking his head.

"No….no I don't remember seeing that book" Derek muttered, as he slowly made his way towards it.

"Hey wait!" Lan shouted, running up to him, as he knelt down to pick it up. "Don't…it could be a trap!"

Derek looked at Lan. She was right, of course, but his curiosity was getting the better of him. With care and caution, Derek knelt down, and quickly snatched both the book and his camera, then he and

Lan dashed back to the entrance doors. Derek handed Lan his camera, as he studied the slender book. The cover was colored green, it looked faded and caked with mildew.

Flipping it around, Derek and Lan saw a faded picture of a little girl, being followed by a little white lamb. It was a child's book: "Mary Had A Little Lamb". But there was something very disturbing about

the book.

First, the words: 'Mary - Had - Litte…' were deliberately scribbled out with red crayon, leaving only the words: 'A' and 'Lamb' untouched. Second, somebody had written _other_ words next to it in red

crayon, making the cover read: _**'A Lamb To THE Slaughter'**_. And finally, someone had butchered the picture: 'Mary's' eyes were gouged out with red crayon, and a deep red line was scribbled across

the Lamb's neck, simulating a slit throat.

For a few moments, Derek and Lan, stood silently, without a word. Both were appalled by the disturbing sight, but Derek swallowed hard, and carefully opened the book. To their astonishment, they

found that the pages were blank. That is, they were blank except for the crude, childish drawings of two stick figure boys, both of them looked identical. Like twins…

The first page showed a picture of the two stick twins smiling. One held a surf board, the other, held a book. The next page was a picture of the one stick boy sitting in a bath tub, holding a book in one

hand, and a razor blade in the other. The next page showed the stick boy, dead in the bath tub, surrounded by red water. The stick boy's brother is drawn next to the tub, crying. Underneath the

picture are words written in red:

_**MonkeY SEE, Monkey Do…WHUT does tHIS sugGest too Yooooo…?**_

The last page of the book is blank, except for a rusty, bloody, razor blade taped to the page. The caption underneath it read:

_**What arr yooo waiting for, DEREK? Just DIE ALREADY!**_

The book fell from Derek's hands, as he collapsed to his knees. A wave of nausea hit Derek, as Lan threw her arms around him, pressing him tightly against her, as he started to shake and cough.

"Shhhhhhhh" whispered Lan, "we're gonna be okay…I'm right here" Lan murmured, as she hugged Derek, and stroked his hair.

"Oh Jesus Lan" shuddered Derek, "what have I gotten us into…?"

"Shhhhhhhhh" urged Lan, as she wrapped her arms, tighter around Derek. "Derek, fight them! They want you to be afraid. Don't give in to them!"

Lan craned her neck up to the window. She could barely see what was going on, from her crouching position. But she knew Madison was still out there.

"Maddie…? Madison!" cried Lan.

Madison, with cell phone in hand, pressed herself against the window. She gasped when seeing Derek shivering in Lan's arms, and the panic in Lan's face.

"Sweetie we need help. Tell Nathan to please hurry!"

Madison nodded, and was about to relay the message, when a figure suddenly approached her causing her to scream. Lan gasped, looking up and saw the security guard, falling against the window

with a loud bang. Lan forced Derek to get up, and they stared out the window, straining their eyes to see if Madison was still out there, unharmed.

"Madison" cried Lan, "Are you okay?"

At first there was no response, but then Madison reappeared in the window and they both breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"I'm okay guys" shouted Madison, who moved over to the guard.

Lan and Derek watched as Madison put her hand on the guard's back, as he was still hunched over. After she whispered something in his ear, the guard lifted up his head, and nodded to her weakly.

Lan let go of Derek and moved closer to the door as Derek stood, up trying to compose himself. Both of them watched, relieved to see the guard attempting to find a key that unlocked the doors. As

the two focused all their attention on the security guard, neither one of them noticed a black formless mass materialize in front of the lobby desk.

Derek stood, watching Lan, when an ash-colored, purplish white hand clapped over Derek's mouth and a similar colored arm hooked around his waist. Lan, turned around and screamed when seeing

Derek being abducted. Without even thinking, Lan dropped the camera and flashlight, and rushed towards him. Derek struggled and tried to cry for help, as Lan managed to grab a hold of his hand. As

she did this, Lan, searched, and to her horror, realized she forgot to bring the holy water. With a strong, swift, motion, Derek's captor jerked him out of Lan's grasp and whisked him away into the pitch

black hallway.

"DEREK!"

Lan raced back to the doors, and grabbed the holy water. Hearing the commotion, Madison pressed herself against the window, and watched as Lan tried to go after Derek. But, without warning, Lan

stumbled and fell, dropping the holy water and the camera. When she tried to pick them back up, the camera and holy water bottle, slid out of her grasp, and into the pitch dark hallway. Lan screamed

and tried to get back up, when an invisible force pushed her back down to the ground, knocking the wind out of her. Lan screamed for help as the invisible force continued to press down on her,

suffocating her.

As her head began to swim and her vision fade to black, Lan still struggled to get away. But all her strength deserted her.

"Derek…." Lan cried weakly, as her vision faded to black.

_********Cut to Commercial Break********_


	14. A Horrifying Encounter

**_********Back from Commercial Break********_**

The world continues to spin for Lan, as she feels herself lost, falling further down a in whirlpool of darkness. Although she feels awake, Lan finds that she can not force her eyes open, or move her arms and legs. She moans in pain, as she tries to move, but her limbs feel like cinder blocks. Suddenly, Lan felt hands touch her face and neck, and she whimpers, expecting the worst.

"No…" begs Lan, weakly, as she suddenly feels herself being dragged and carried someplace.

But, the sudden rush of cold air kissing her skin, finally helped Lan, open her eyes, but with great effort. Her vision was blurry; but she could make out bright pale blue light, and an open space; she felt the sensation of lying some place cool and soft. When her vision finally cleared, Lan saw that she was lying in the grass, outside of the hospital. She wasn't alone either. Turning her head, Lan, could make out the silhouette of the security guard, kneeling beside her on her right. To her left, was Madison, stroking her shoulder, in tears. Lan was feeling her own tears, threatening to overflow.

"Where's Derek" Lan asked, already knowing the answer.

Madison and the security guard exchanged looks without a sound. Lan moved her head weakly, from side to side. But she could not make out their expressions. Lan's lip quivered and warm tears, slipped from her lashes.

"Oh my God…" whimpered Lan, "Derek…"

She forced herself up off the ground, crying out as pain shot through her limbs. It was as if her whole body had been asleep, and her circulation was JUST returning. The guard put his hands on Lan's shoulders, trying to force her back down, but she continued to resist.

"No…let me go!….please….We have to help him!"

Lan jerked herself free from the guard's grasp and tried to get back up, but she quickly collapsed back into the guard's arms. She was too weak resist him, and so, Lan broke down, and crying out Derek's name in between wracked sobs. So lost was Lan in despair, that she did not notice the bright headlights shining on all three of them. She continued to sob, even as she heard the sounds of car doors opening and closing, and the sound of feet, rushing towards them. It was only when she heard Chloe's voice, that Lan looked up.

"Oh Chloe" cried Lan.

Chloe knelt down and hugged Lan, as she cried. The others stood silently and observed Lan's injuries. She suddenly stopped crying and pulled away, and looked at everyone. She wiped the tears from her eyes.

"They took Derek…" Lan spoke, her voice was shakey. "…they took him, and now they're going to kill him."

"Who?" asked Jason, kneeling down, putting a hand on her shoulder. Lan shook her head.

"I don't know" spoke Lan, " One of them, is Madison's Darkman…and the others…?" she shook her head, "I don't know….but it's got something to do with the harbingers…"

"Oh my God" gasped Chloe, exchanging panicked looks with Jason, as Madison slowly stood up.

"Revenge" spoke Madison calmly, "The dark man wants to punish Derek, for stopping the harbingers… AND he wants to make an example of him…."

The six adults stare dumbfounded, trying to process everything Madison had said. Nathan, started emptying the duffle bags.

"Okay" spoke Nathan, "looks like we're gonna have to split up. Chloe, you'll come with me down to the basement, Jason, you'll go with Amy and search the upstairs."

"Baby, do you really think that's wise? Splitting up like that?" asked Amy.

"No, Amy, I don't" answered Nathan coolly, "But we don't have much choice. If we split up, we'll have a better chance of finding Derek….but if we don't, we may not reach him in time..."

"I'll go with you" spoke the guard, slowly standing up, "I know this building inside and out…"

Nathan tries to protest, but the guard holds his hand up.

"We'll stand a better chance, the more people we have in each group…"

"But wait a second" protested Chloe, "somebody's gotta stay with Lan…"

"Oh No!" interrupted Lan, "You guys aren't leaving me out here, I'm going with you!"

"Lan" pleaded Chloe, " you're in no shape to go back in there. If something happens…"

"…If something happens, it'll be MY problem" cut in Lan, "You guys can't expect me to just wait out here."

Lan makes eye contact with everyone in the group.

"Guys, I'll be okay" insisted Lan, "I need to do this, please…"

Chloe bites her lip, and exchanges looks with Jason and the others. But then she nods in agreement with Lan, and squeezes her shoulder, reassuringly.

The guard walks over to his patrol vehicle, while Madison spots a small bottle of holy water that has fallen on the ground. She quickly snatches it and runs after the guard. Jason stands up, and takes a casual interest in Madison, talking inaudibly to the guard. After talking for a few moments, the guard, suddenly takes his gun out of his holster, and holds it out in front of Madison; almost as if he were offering it to her. Jason, finds this rather odd, but he returns his attention to the group, when hearing Nathan, drop his equipment.

Nathan has completely emptied both duffle bags as Chloe gently helps Lan up off of the ground. The group stands around a pile, consisting of: two thermal imaging cameras, a dozen small bottles of holy water, two silver crucifixes, several silver holy medals, and a half a dozen walkie talkies and rechargeable flashlights.

"Okay guys" spoke Nathan, "before we do anything…we all need to join hands in a circle, and pray….I know it sounds silly, but trust me! We're dealing with an entity, that's not only highly intelligent, but powerful and down right evil. We're gonna need all the protection we can get…"

Nathan waits for the security guard to join up to the group. Then, they all join hands, as Nathan leads the group, in reciting the Lord's Prayer, and a personal plea, that the Lord and Jesus Christ, protect each one of them from harm….

**_Elsewhere:_**

**_Camera cuts _**from Nathan and the group, joined in a prayer circle, to a dark room somewhere inside the hospital. The room is dimly lit by the lamplight, filtering through the frosted window glass, covered by bars. It appears to be a cell, similar to the one Lan was locked in, although there appears to be slightly more walking room. The room appears to be empty, except for a small table, and two filthy smelly mattress on the ground. On one of the mattresses, lies Derek, bound and barely conscious. He groans, as he feels his head throbbing. Derek manages to open his eyes, and tries to make out his surroundings. When he tries to rub his eyes, Derek discovers that his hands have been bound tightly in front of him, with bailing twine. Seeing his bonds illuminated in the light, frightened Derek, but more than anything, it angered and frustrated him.

"Damn it" growled Derek, hitting his bound wrists against the mattress. "So sick of this crap!"

Derek let his head fall back on the mattress, and he wretched and choked from the smell of rat urine, emanating from it. For the most part, Derek was accustomed to danger. In the past, he wrote it off as 'the cost of seeking the truth, behind the strange and unusual'. But this…this was too much. From the moment they were first attacked, Derek felt completely helpless.

Had it not been for Lan or Madison, Derek would have died, either at the hands of Virginia Dare, or that thing, the Dark man, or whatever the hell it was… Derek was sick of being a victim, getting beat up and tossed around, like some kind of rag doll. With this in mind, Derek, forced himself to sit up, bringing his wrists up to his mouth. He started biting at his bonds, trying to find a knot to loosen. Suddenly he heard a noise on the opposite side of the room. Looking up, Derek's eyes widened, and panic gripped him, when he saw two slender figures [the same ones that tormented him in the morgue] standing about a foot away from him.

"No….NO!" cried Derek, sliding away from them, but his back hit the wall.

Derek was trapped. He frantically turned his head from left to right, looking for any means of escape, but there were none. Derek helplessly watched as the two figures swiftly cornered. The two figures joined hands and one of them knelt down to touch Derek.

"No, please" begged Derek, "what do you want? I haven't done anything to you!"

The figure kneeling down, grabbed a hold of Derek's hand, causing him to gasp…

Suddenly, Derek felt as though he'd been transported back in time. All of a sudden, Derek found himself in a well lit room, staring at two young teenage boys, whimpering and cowering in terror. A balding, middle-aged man stood over them, with twine in his hands.

"My, my, my…you boys sure are nice..." spoke the man in a New England accent.

"Lemme see…Eeny, Meenie, Miney, Moe…" continued the man, as the boys cried and hugged each other tightly.

Suddenly, there was a flash, and Derek suddenly found himself back inside the morgue. His jaw dropped, and his eyes widened in horror as he witnessed one of the teenage boys, now bound. He was being forced down on his stomach, over one of the autopsy tables, by the middle-aged man. Derek turned away, shutting his eyes, tight as he could hear the poor boy scream. Hearing the boy's sorrowful pleas brought tears of sadness and anger to Derek's eyes. He clenched his hands into tight fists, turning around, ready to beat the crap out of the man. But before he could do anything, Derek found himself back in the present. His wrists, bound once more.

Derek stared speechless at the figure, who withdrew his hand and slowly stood up, looking at his partner. For a long moment the two stared at one another, then finally, let out a long, sorrowful, moan, as they leaned their heads against each other. They continued to weep as Derek sat, struggling to make sense of it all. The figures terrified him, and yet…he now found himself overcome with pity for them.

Just then, the door burst open, and in walked two men, causing the figures to panic. Derek gasped, when recognizing one of them as the balding middle-aged man, who 'tortured' the two boys. The man, looked at Derek, then looked at the figures, and stormed up to them. With a swift motion, the man, punched both figures in the face, causing them to cry and cower in fear.

"You get away from him" the man barked, "he's mine!"

The two figures, whimpered and retreated to the opposite side of the room, huddling in a corner. The middle-aged man approached Derek, who struggled to get up. But before Derek could get away, the middle-aged man grabbed Derek by his collar, lifting him up with inhuman strength. The Man pulled Derek up close to him; he took great delight in poor Derek's frightened expression.

"My, my, my…" spoke the middle-aged man in triumph, "you're a nice lookin' boy, …"

Derek gasped, as every muscle in his body twitched. _"this is not happening…this is not happening"_ Derek thought to himself.

"Oh it most certainly is happening, boy…" spoke the middle-aged man with a wicked smile, "But don't be scared, Mr. Barnes, I'll be real gentle with you, being this is your first time."

"NO DON'T! SOMEBODY HELP…!" screamed Derek, as the other man, snuck up from behind and gagged him.

With all his might, Derek struggled, and tried hitting and kicking his captor, but the middle-aged man flung Derek onto the dirty mattress. As soon as he landed, Derek scrambled to crawl away, but the middle-aged man pounced on him, pinning Derek to the mattress. Derek continued to blurt out muffled grunts and cries, as the middle-aged man's partner, grabbed Derek's bound wrists, holding them out in front of him.

_This is not happening…this is NOT happening…_

The two figures slender figures remained huddled in the corner, watching as poor Derek struggled. They watched as Derek blurted out a loud, muffled scream, when the middle-aged man started pulling at his khakis. But Derek's persistence paid off, as another presence entered the room. It suddenly materialized, causing the middle-aged man to stop, and quickly get off of him. The man's partner, also released Derek, getting up, and quickly backing away. Both men stood, warily, as the presence took the form of a handsome, albino-looking man with large black eyes.

"Dawson, Dawson" growled the black-eyed stranger, scornfully, "your lack of self-control, sickens me…"

The stranger holds up his hand, causing Dawson, the middle-aged man, to double over in pain. He screamed and pleaded as black liquid oozed from his eyes, nose and mouth.

"I warned you!" the stranger continued, "I told you, you could have Mr. Barnes _after_ I finished with him…now you shall suffer for your disobedience!"

The black-eyed stranger, the Dark Man, clenched his raised hand into a fist, causing Dawson to crumple up on the floor, convulsing. Derek silently stared in wide-eyed horror, as Dawson eventually stopped convulsing, then dissolve into a dark-red liquid puddle on the floor. Derek, felt himself overcome with nausea as he stared at the nasty puddle on the floor, and then at the Dark Man, whose eyes were now locked on Derek…

**_********Cut to Commercial Break*******_**


	15. Derek Versus The Dark Man

_*********Back from Commercial Break*********_

Derek was too terrified to move. Unable to look at the Dark Man, Derek averted his eyes and continued to shake involuntarily, trying hard not to whimper. The Dark man, however, continued studying him. Those large black eyes, seemed to burn right through Derek, like x-rays. But then the Dark man turned his attention to Dawson's nervous partner.

"As for you…" spoke the Dark man scornfully, causing Dawson's partner to back away.

"Alastor…I beg.."

The Dark man let out an ear splitting roar, causing the windows to break, and everyone in the room to tremble. With another swift gesture, the Dark man caused Dawson's partner to double over in pain.

_**Outside the hospital**_, the commotion startled Nathan and the group, and they all directed their attention to the building, trying to discern where the noise was coming from. Devina studied the building, and quickly noticed the breaking glass, falling from one of the windows. She also noticed a tall, dark silhouette of a man, passing by the window.

"Up there!" cried Devina, pointing to the window. Everyone looked just in time to see the tall silhouette pass out of sight. Chloe, Jason, and Lan, looked to Nathan.

"Oh my God, Derek could be up there" spoke Chloe.

"What is that, the 4th floor" asked Jason.

"Yes" answered Nathan grabbing his camera and flashlight, "That's the 'isolation ward'." Nathan looked at everyone in the group.

"Okay people, change of plans. We're not splitting up. Let's get in there quickly. Devina, you stay with Madison, and keep a close eye on things outside". Devina nods as Nathan turns to Madison.

"…and Maddie…" Nathan kneels down to speak with her at eye-level. "Maddie, I want you to stay out here where it's safe. But if you can sense Emma's presence, please tell her we need her help."

Jason, and Chloe exchanged confused looks as Lan listens to Nathan, already knowing. Maddie looked at Jason, Chloe, and Lan, then nodded to Nathan.

"She's prepared to help you, but she can only do so much" spoke Madison, "The Dark man just killed one bad ghost and now another. And after that, he's gonna kill Derek"

She paused a moment, as if she fell into a trance. But she quickly snapped out of it.

"Fourth Floor, room 425. Take the left hallway from the lobby, then the stairs, HURRY!" cried Madison frantically.

Nathan nodded as he and Amy turned on their cameras. The group, armed with flashlights, walkie-talkies and religious items, quickly sprinted up the hospital stairs entrance, and burst through the

doors.

_**Inside the Hospital, in room 425**_:

"WRETCHED MAGGOT!" roared the Dark man, now known by his true name: 'Alastor',

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK MY NAME?"

Dawson's partner falls to the ground, convulsing, and then finally dissolves into a large dark-red liquid puddle on the ground. Derek continued to shake, keeping his eyes on the mattress, refusing to look. But then he blurts out a muffled cry, when feeling ice cold fingers grab him by the hair, pulling him towards the puddle. Derek tried to resist, but it was too painful. Alastor continued to pull Derek by his hair, and forced his face dangerously close to the puddle. In the lamplight, Derek could see, what looked like: maggots, centipedes and various insects swimming through the puddle.

"Do you see, Mr. Barnes? Do you see?… Look well upon this filth…"

Just as Derek, felt he was going to throw up, Alastor pulled Derek away from the puddle, hurting his neck, and forced him to make eye contact. Alastor leaned in close, his face merely inches away from Derek's.

"Let that be a lesson to you Mr. Barnes" Alastor warned with a sneer, "Dead people can STILL die…!"

He let go of Derek's hair and walked towards the window. With trembling hands, Derek removed his gag, never taking his eyes off Alastor. He looked at the two slender figures, still huddled in the corner, staring back at him, with sad expressions. Derek looked at the boys, concentrating.

"_Guys" _he thought to himself, _"if you can hear me, please help me…" _

The two made eye contact with Derek, as if they heard his thoughts, but they did not budge. Derek closed his eyes, swallowing hard. He returned his attention to Alastor, at the window. He appeared to be removing something that was attached to one of the bars.

"What are you going to do to me" asked Derek, fighting against the fear and hopelessness, building up inside him.

"What do you think?" asked Alastor, still removing something from the bars.

"I think you're going to kill me" spoke Derek.

"_Very good Mr. Barnes_" replied Alastor, "you deserve a prize."

Derek watched as Alastor removed the object from the window, and turned to face him. His eyes widened in terror, as Alastor held out Derek's own camera in front of him. The camera had been recording Derek the whole time he was in here. Even when those two men assaulted him. Derek looked at Alastor, helpless.

"It's a pity I have to kill you" continued Alastor, "Live bait is the best bait, I always say…"

"What?" asked Derek, now confused.

"It would have been nice to keep you alive, and use you as bait to lure Vince and your brother Adam out of hiding. But I'm confident this tape will have the same effect."

Alastor gestured with his free hand, causing Derek's bound wrists to lift up. Derek gasped as he felt himself being lifted up off the ground. He was now hanging by his bound wrists in mid air. Derek squeezed his eyes shut tight, gritting his teeth, as he felt the pain travel from his wrists, down to his arms, and the rest of his body, like scalding hot water. Derek fought back the urge to cry out, as Alastor continued to record Derek's suffering.

"I must say I am disappointed" continued Alastor, "Adam and Vince _must_ have sensed the danger you were in, and yet they allowed you to fall right into my clutches." Alastor shrugged. "Oh well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised….they're not fools. They know all too well what will happen, once we find them."

Alastor made another gesture, causing Derek to cry out. He suddenly felt as if every inch of his body, were being stabbed by thousands of knives. The death of a thousand cuts. Derek's eyes welled up with tears as Alastor moved closer, focusing the camera on Derek's tortured expression. As unbearable as the pain was, Derek still fought, refusing to give Alastor, the satisfaction of hearing him scream. This angered Alastor, but then he smiled.

"You know…you really deserve this, Mr. Barnes. I know about you…"

Alastor clenched his free hand into a fist, causing Derek to cry out in pain, as a deep cut formed on his upper right cheek. It bled profusely as Derek felt another cut formed across his chest, ripping through his shirt. Derek cried loudly, no longer able to stifle his reactions. Alastor was pleased by this.

"On the night your twin brother killed himself, he reached out to you…but instead, you chose to lay with a dancer, a whore, instead of rushing to his side…"

Alastor grabs Derek's face, and squeezes.

"So tell me Derek, how does it feel? How does it feel to know that Adam, your twin brother, your own flesh and blood, lies rotting in the ground…all because you needed to get your rocks off…how does it feel?

Tears slipped from Derek's eyes, but his expression turned from fear to anger, as a result of Alastor's taunting. Derek spit in Alastor's face, hitting his black eyes, but the thing did not even blink.

"Screw you!" growled Derek, as Alastor stood, motionless. He let go of Derek's face.

"The human spirit" muttered Alastor as he wiped his face, "such an admirable quality…" He took a couple steps back from Derek. "I'll see you on the other side Mr. Barnes…"

Alastor stretched his arm out, preparing to finish Derek off. Despite the pain, Derek closed his eyes, and it seemed as though his life were flashing before him. He saw his childhood, the good times he shared with Adam, his adventures with Jason, Chloe and Lan; and finally, him and Lan's last kiss….

Suddenly, all the pain Derek experienced, vanished and he fell to the ground. Opening his eyes, Derek saw, to his astonishment, Alastor being attacked by the two slender figures he silently pleaded with, for help. The figures tried wrestling Alastor to the ground, but it was clear the beast was stronger than they were. One of the figures looked at Derek, opening his mouth.

"…a…aa…..arru…..RUN!…"

Without even thinking, Derek forced himself up, and scrambled out of the room, as Alastor continued struggling. Derek burst out of the room and into the pitch black hallway running blindly. He continued running towards the left side of the hallway until he tripped and fell down hard on the floor. It was at that moment that a beam of light shined in Derek's face, causing him flinch.

"DEREK" cried Lan, rushing over to him.

Lan quickly dropped to her knees, as the others rushed to catch up with her. Holding the flashlight with her teeth, Lan frantically worked on Derek's wrists as he looked up at her. Feelings of terror and relief washed over him. And when Lan finally freed Derek, he threw his arms around her waist hugging her. Lan hugged him back, as the others finally caught up with her.

Chloe and Jason dropped to the ground next to them, as Nathan, Amy, and the guard, kept watch in the hallway. Chloe shined the light over Derek, and was appalled by his injuries. Derek looked up, and when he saw Jason and Chloe, he broke down, overwhelmed by feelings of shame and guilt.

"Guys…I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry…"

"Hey D, relax, it's okay. Everything's going to be okay" spoke Jason, reassuringly.

"We're getting you out of here, right now" added Chloe, putting her hand on Derek's shoulder.

Chloe, Jason, and Lan, helped Derek to his feet, and continued giving him support, when all of a sudden they heard two loud, frightened screams rip through the hallway. Derek gasped squeezing both Chloe and Jason's arms.

"Oh my God we gotta get out of here!" cried Derek, as Amy looked through her camera.

"Guys…" spoke Amy, studying the images through her camera, "we got company…"

Everybody shines their light in the direction Amy's referring to, and see a tall albino figure with large black eyes, staring them down…

"Barnes! You won't escape me so easily…."

_**********Cut to Commercial Break**********_


	16. Fighting to Stay Alive

_********Back from Commercial Break********_

Inside the pitch black hallway, the group stood frozen, unable to move as Jason and Chloe's flashlights, barely illuminated Alastor's figure in the distance. Standing behind the FreakyLinks team, was Amy, Nathan, and the security guard. Amy kept a vigilant eye on the EMF meter, watching out for increases in electro magnetic energy. The security guard, seeing Alastor, leaned in close to Nathan, whispering.

"Please tell me you've experienced this before ".

Nathan swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry" Nathan whispered back, "we've never encountered anything _like_ this".

"What?" snapped Chloe, turning around.

"We've never encountered this in a full body transformation…only in black mass or mist forms".

Jason glared at Nathan, as Lan hugged Derek, who continued staring at Alastor, afraid to look away.

"Man, I thought you said you've dealt with this thing" hissed Jason.

"I have!" Nathan hissed back, "but I did so, with the help of our psychic / medium - who ISN'T here by the way!"

"Guys.." interrupted Amy, "the EMF level's rising…this thing's charging up for an attack."

Jason looked back at Alastor, and then at Nathan. He and Chloe leaned in close.

"These items" spoke Jason, holding out the holy water and silver pendants, "will they be enough to stop him?"

"Those items? They _will_ hurt him" answered Nathan, " but those will only ward him off temporarily… My plan was, If we can continuously bombard him with these holy items, we should be able to keep him away long enough for us to get out of the building."

Jason and Chloe exchanged looks.

"Sounds like a plan" spoke Chloe, but before she could continue, a smooth masculine voice called out from the hallway.

"Mr. Adler…"

The entire group focused their attention on the lone figure standing in the distance.

"Mr. Adler" spoke Alastor, "You know what I am capable of, do you not?"

Nathan swallowed hard.

"Yes" Nathan replied, in a raised voice, "I've seen what you can do". Alastor nodded.

"I can destroy you and your friends, with just a simple waive of my hand…But I am prepared to spare your lives…in exchange for Derek Barnes…."

The group was speechless.

"Give me Derek Barnes, and I will allow the rest of you to leave this place, unharmed. Refuse me, and you will all share his fate. Be advised and hand him over! His wretched life, is not worth throwing yours away…"

Lan gasped squeezing Derek's waist, as the group stared at him. He was shivering slightly, and he lowered his head, terrified. Derek knew his friends. He knew they would never give him up. But what if there was no other way? The amulet was gone. He no longer had the power to send evil spirits back to hell. And what's more, this was all his fault.

Derek looked at Lan, and she looked at him; both exchanged sad, frightened expressions. She was so beautiful. In this moment, Derek felt he loved her. He looked at Chloe and Jason, who stared back at him with similar expressions. He loved them as well. Without his friends, Derek was nothing. He _had_ nothing. Sighing, Derek realized what he needed to do. He touched Lan's face, caressing her, and Chloe and Jason (jaws dropped), watched in shock as Derek leaned in and kissed Lan, passionately. The kiss lasted for a few seconds, and then he gently pulled away. Lan looked at Derek with an expression of both love and worry. He gazed into her eyes, forcing himself to smile. So beautiful…

_I love you, Lan,_ Derek thought to himself.

And with those thoughts, Derek pulled himself out of Lan's grasp, turned, and attempted to walk towards Lan cried out and latched on to Derek's waist. Derek tried pulling himself free, but Jason and Chloe, each grabbed one of his arms, pulling him back towards the group. Derek struggled.

"Let me go!" Derek protested angrily, "didn't you hear him? He's gonna kill us all!"

"Damn it Derek, NO!" hissed Chloe, "killing yourself is NOT an option! We can still get out of this!"

Derek shook his head, as Chloe's flashlight, illuminated his face. His complexion was deathly pale, except for the cut still bleeding from his right cheek. His misty, baby blue eyes were large, frightened, and angry at the same time. He was still shaking.

"There's no other way" Derek spoke, in a sharp tone, "I lost Adam's amulet in the tunnel. It's my fault we're in this mess…I need to make this right…now let me go!"

Derek tries to move forward, but Chloe, Lan, and Jason hold on to him, tightly. Jason squeezes his arm, shaking him.

"Man, I don't think so!" spoke Jason, squeezing his arm. " 'D', snap out of it!" he ordered, "we're not beaten yet!" Derek looks at Jason, unconvinced, but Jason persists.

"Come on man, can't you see we got your back? All of us, together. We can beat this thing!….Come on Derek, What do you say?"

Derek and Jason exchange looks, and then he looks to Chloe, Lan, and Nathan. Everyone in the group nods, reassuringly. Derek's lips tighten.

"Alright…let's do it" said Derek, as he and Jason bumped fists.

"Yea" smiled Jason, now that's what I'm talking about".

"Mr. Adler…! My patience grows thin!… Have you made your Decision?"

Jason's eyes narrowed and he stepped forward, causing Derek to panic.

"Jason what the hell are you doing?" asked Derek, but Jason took a few more steps.

He then stopped, as he concealed the silver medal and the open holy water bottle at his side.

"Hey Dark man! Yea, you…!" shouted Jason. " I got a little proposition for you!"

Alastor narrowed his eyes, focusing on Jason.

"Jason, what the hell…! Are you nuts? " pleaded Derek.

"Relax 'D', I know what I'm doing" whispered Jason. He then returned his attention to Alastor.

"Hey Dark man!…I believe I speak for everyone here, when I say: Kiss - My - Aa-"

Before Jason could finish his sentence, he was struck down by a piece of hospital equipment that flew at him out of the darkness with blinding speed. Derek's eyes widened in horror, seeing his buddy fall to the ground, clutching his forehead. Derek, Lan, and Chloe dropped to the floor, huddling around Jason, as Amy and Nathan stood, frozen in panic. The guard, however, appeared rather calm, as he slowly and quietly unsnapped his gun holster. He was preparing to draw his weapon…

Chloe held the flashlight over Jason, now bleeding profusely from his forehead. Lan, reached underneath her sweater and ripped off a section of her already torn tank top, and used it to staunch the blood. Derek glared, hatefully at Alsator, who was now smiling.

"ALASTOR" screamed Derek standing back up, "YOU SON OF A BITCH I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!"

But Alastor raised his hand, causing Derek to double over in pain. All of a sudden, Derek began to gasp and choke, as if he were being strangled by an invisible hand. Chloe looked up and screamed. Alastor laughed as Derek fell to the ground, gasping and choking. Lan quickly turned to Nathan, who was still frozen, paralyzed by fear.

"Nathan help us!" cried Lan. Amy grabbed Nathan's arm shaking him, roughly.

"Baby" cried Amy, "for God's sakes we've got to help them! What should we do?"

But before Nathan could respond, the security guard stepped forward with his weapon drawn, and fired three rounds at Alastor, hitting him twice. Alastor suddenly stopped laughing, and slowly looked down at his stomach and right shoulder. Smoke and strange translucent liquid (resembling teal-colored anti-freeze) began oozing from Alastor's bullet wounds. Instantly, he was gripped by agonizing pain, and he unleashed an ear-splitting, animal-like shriek. The guard quickly fired three more rounds, hitting Alastor in his right arm, and in his left leg, just above the knee.

The guard looked at Amy and Nathan.

"Well what the hell are you two standing there for" he shouted, "grab them and get the hell out of here…!"

Nathan and Amy snapped into action and they pulled Derek up off the ground, slinging his arms over their shoulders. Chloe and Lan did the same with Jason.

"COME ON MOVE!" ordered the guard, as he stood training his weapon and flashlight on Alastor.

The guard listened as the group threw open the fire exit door and began scrambling down the stairs. He then spun around and quickly followed them. The group maneuvered their way down the stairs quickly and carefully, until they reached the first floor. Their freedom was nearly at hand…but to everyone's horror, they found the first door blocked off by an immoveable pile of gurneys, filing cabinets, and various hospital junk.

"Oh are you freakin KIDDING ME ?" shouted Nathan, when seeing their escape route blocked off. He kicked one of the gurneys angrily, as the guard ejected his clip.

"Alright, we'll have to double back on the second floor" spoke Nathan, trying to composed himself.

"I only got three more rounds left" spoke the guard, loading the clip back into his gun. "I'll need to make the last shots count."

Nathan checked Derek out, who was still trying to catch his breath.

"Think you'll be okay to walk, Derek" asked Nathan. Derek nodded "Yes".

Nathan removed Derek's arm from around his shoulder, then carefully cut through the small crowd, leading them back to the second floor landing. As Nathan removed the hospital map from his back pocket, Chloe looked at Jason, seeing if he was okay on his feet. After murmuring inaudibly to him, Jason nodded and Chloe let him go in Lan's arms. The group cautiously made their way back up the stairs.

"That was pretty impressive back there" Chloe said to the guard. "I can't believe that actually worked".

"Yea me neither" answered the guard. "When the little girl outside, told me to take out my bullets and bless them…I almost didn't listen to her…. But Thank God I did…"

The group reached the landing, and watched with bated breath, as Nathan cautiously opened the door marked: 2F. Everyone felt relieved, when the door opened, and that nobody appeared on the other side. The group quickly entered the floor and paused for a moment as Nathan opened up the map, holding the flashlight over it.

"Okay" spoke Nathan, in an elevated whisper, "we need to quickly run to the opposite side of the hallway, make a left to the other flight of stairs, and try to access the lobby _that way_."

"Yea and what if that doesn't work" groaned Jason, bitterly.

Nathan looked at Jason. "Well if it doesn't work, there's only one other option: the Death Tunnel…"

Derek's eyes widened in horror and he hyperventilated as Lan's expression became equally panicked.

"Oh no!" spoke Lan, "no way in Hell.. We are NOT going back down there!"

Suddenly there was a noise in the pitch black hallway, causing everyone to look up. Amy tucked switched on her thermal imaging camera and videotaped the hallway. There were no apparent heat signatures or any other forms of abnormality.

"I'm not picking up anything on the thermal" said Amy.

"What about the EMF" asked Nathan.

Amy checked the meter and shook her head. "Nope, nothing. So far so good."

"Alright then, let's move" spoke Nathan, walking forward.

Nathan led the way, followed by Amy, Lan and Jason, and then Chloe and Derek. As they paced carefully and quickly past the closed rooms, Chloe looked at Derek, walking next to her.

"Hey. How are you holding up Derek?" Chloe asked in a whisper. Derek looked at her.

"Not bad. A little better" he replied, forcing a smile.

They continued their trek down the long dark hallway when all of a sudden a wooden door swung open, scaring the daylights out of everyone in the group. The guard drew his gun, prepared to fire. But nothing emerged from behind the door. Everyone remained frozen, waiting for something to happen, until Nathan straightened out the map to check what room it was. As he looked through the diagram, Amy rechecked the EMF meter.

"It's okay guys, I'm not picking anything up". This caused a collective sigh in the group, and they all gathered their bearings. Chloe, Derek, Lan, and Jason, moved towards the door.

"What is it, an office" asked Lan, flashing her light into the room.

She and the others were taken back when the light appeared to reveal _nothing_ . Not a ceiling or a floor,; just a wide open space. To Derek, it reminded him of that one amusement park ride, 'The Devil's Pit' where you enter the big circular room, and the room moves so fast, that one literally, looks as though they were defying gravity… Suddenly, without warning, the EMF meter went berserk.

Looking up, Amy screamed when seeing Alastor materialize out of thin air, in the middle of the group. Although he appeared badly hurt, Alastor waived his uninjured arm, forcing everyone in the group (except for Derek and Chloe), down on the ground with incredible force. Chloe and Derek exchanged panicked looks, but before they could react, they felt themselves being knocked off their feet, flying backwards into the mystery room. For a brief moment, Derek and Chloe felt as though they really _were_ flying…but the laws of gravity soon caught up with them, and they both screamed when feeling themselves falling down in what, to them, felt like a bottomless pit…

Alastor stared after them and laughed cruelly, while clutching his injured arm and stomach. Jason lifted his head and observed the wooden door slam shut, and Alastor disappear into thin air… Despite the painful feeling of numbness throughout his body, Jason forced himself up off the ground running towards the wooden door. Discovering it locked, Jason rattled the knob, pulling and pounding on it as the others slowly got up off the ground.

"DEREK, CHLOE!" cried Jason, as he continued pounding on the door, wishing he had an 'Axe'.

Lan joined him, in pounding on the door, calling out their names, as Amy, the guard and Nathan got their bearings. Jason gave the door one last frustrated blow, before turning to Nathan. At this point, Jason was nearly out of patience.

"Well Nate, let's have it! Where are they? What's behind that door?"

Nathan checked the diagram, and slowly looked up, making eye contact with Jason.

"According to the map, they're in the operating theater…"

Jason stopped, and exchanged looks with Lan, the guard and Amy.

"Is there another way we can get in…?"

_**Inside the operating theater…**_

Derek and Chloe lay sprawled on the dirty, smelly, floor; decorated in small black and white ceramic tiles. Both were dazed and in pain. But despite the pain, Derek forced himself to stir. Looking around, he observed that he and Chloe were surrounded by darkness, except for the tiny beam of light, emanating from the opposite side of the room. At first he tried to stand up, but he cried out, feeling agonizing pain shoot through his left leg. He fell back down to the ground, not sure if his leg was broken or just sprained. But he quickly dragged himself towards the flashlight, crying out as he cut the palms of his hands on slivers of broken glass.

Grabbing the flashlight, he moved the light about the room, trying to make out their surroundings. Had it not been for the single operating table, a few overturned instrument tables, and shattered glass cabinets, Derek would have swore that he and Chloe had fallen into a coliseum. All that was missing, was the lion. Instead, further inspection revealed that he and Chloe were inside a large operating theater. Chloe groaned weakly, struggling to move, as Derek crawled back to her. She continued to groan as Derek placed his hand on her forehead, shining the flashlight to see if she was hurt. She opened her eyes…

"Derek…" Chloe mumbled, "what happened, where are we?"

Derek bit his lip.

"We're in an operating theater" he answered, "though if you ask me, it looks more like a roman coliseum".

Suddenly, Derek regretted those words, although he wasn't sure why.

"Are you okay Chloe?"

She looked up at Derek, forcing a smile. "I'm still in one piece" she said. Then Chloe winced, after feeling her whole body ache. "Please, help me up" .

Derek gently helped Chloe into a sitting position, and he tried to steady her, seeing that she was still slightly disoriented.

"What about you, Derek? Are you okay" asked Chloe.

"Yea I'm okay" Derek answered, "but I think my leg's hurt".

Chloe slipped her hand in her pocket, seeing if she had any headache / muscle ache pills on her, but instead she pulled out the small card of Saint Michael, the Arch angel. Chloe had almost forgotten about it.

"Oh my God…" muttered Chloe.

"What, what is it?" asked Derek, observing the card.

"It's some kind of prayer card. I found it in my car, when Vince approached me…"

"Vince…?" interrupted Derek, angrily. "You talked to Vince…?" Chloe fell silent. "Boy I wish I could find him right now. I got a few choice words for him…!"

"Oh really…" interrupted a smooth, masculine voice, "so do I…"

Without warning, an obsidian clawed hand grabs Derek by the throat , lifting him up off the ground. Chloe screamed, grabbing the fallen flashlight, and watched as Alastor proceeded to choke the life out of Derek. Tucking the card back into her pocket, Chloe reached into her other pocket and pulled out two circular holy medals, made from solid silver. She struggled to get up, and attempted to position herself behind Alastor, undetected. Derek continued to gasp and choke, trying to kick Alastor with his good leg, but it was no use.

Just as it seemed hopeless, Alastor suddenly released Derek, screaming in pain. Derek fell to the ground and Chloe quickly ran over to him, pulling him by his collar, as he gasped for air. With holy water in one hand, and flashlight in the other, Chloe wrapped her arms around Derek protectively, while shining the light on Alastor. Derek soon discovered why Alastor was in pain: Chloe had somehow managed to sneak up from behind and touch each of Alastor's eyes with the medals. The result: the holy medals stuck to both of his eyes, burning them, and Alastor was clawing at his face, trying to remove them.

As Alastor struggled to remove the medals from his eyes, an object fell from the ceiling, hitting Derek on the head, slipping inside his shirt. Derek sat up, breaking away from Chloe, desperately trying to remove whatever it was that fell inside his shirt. But to his surprise and elation Derek discovered his missing amulet. He and Chloe exchanged looks of confusion, when suddenly two doors burst open. One from above, and one near the operating table. At first, it was difficult for Chloe and Derek to discern what was happening , but they soon realized that Jason and Nathan had come to their rescue.

They watched as the two men threw holy water on the screaming entity, all the while, Nathan was reciting the Lord's prayer. In the upper part of the theater, Amy, Lan, and the security guard, rushed to the very edge of the balcony. The guard drew out his weapon, trying to get a clear shot of Alastor, but the darkness, and Alastor's moving around, made it too difficult. The guard could not risk hitting Jason or Nathan. Suddenly, Alastor managed to rip the medals from his eyes. He stared at both Jason and Nathan with black eyes, oozing with dark-colored liquid…

Seeing this caused Derek to clutch the amulet in his hand, and he was about to use it when suddenly, something dawned on him.

"Chloe!" Derek whispered, "Give me that card you were showing me earlier".

Chloe hands Derek the prayer card, and he studies both sides of it, when Jason and Nathan cry out. Derek looks up, in time to see both Jason and Nathan go flying through the air; both of them crash through the dilapidated cabinets. Then Alastor raises his good arm, knocking the gun out of the guard's hands… and pulling Lan off of the balcony. Lan screams, as she falls to the ground, but Alastor catches her. Derek screams out protests as he sees Alastor holding Lan in his arms, and pressing one of his sharp claws into her jugular vein. Lan screamed.

"DEREK" growled Alastor, "SURRENDER YOURSELF NOW, OR I'LL CUT HER THROAT…!"

Silence fell over the room, except for Lan, whimpering. Derek's eyes were wide with fear, realizing that he was in danger of losing the woman he loved.

_God help me if this doesn't work…_

"Chloe help me up" spoke Derek, and Chloe obliged him.

She watched, as Derek slowly made his way towards Alastor, limping. But then Derek stopped, when he was only four feet away from Alastor, he held out the amulet for Alastor to see. Alastor scowled at him, tightening his grip on Lan, causing her to cry out in pain.

"Silly little maggot…" spoke Alastor with a sneer, "you think you can stop me with that…?" His mouth twisted into a cruel smile. "Say goodbye to your lady love…"

Derek clutched the Amulet and held it out in front of him, shouting:

"SAINT MICHAEL, THE ARCH ANGEL…!"

The cruel, triumphant smile vanished from Alastor's face and was replaced by an expression of anger and dread, as Derek continued…

"BY THE POWER OF GOD…CAST IN TO HELL, ALASTOR…AND ALL EVIL SOULS WHO WONDER THROUGH THIS HOSPITAL FOR THE RUIN OF SOULS…"

Hearing these words caused Alastor to scream, enraged. He threw Lan to the ground, and charged Derek, slamming him hard against the wall. Derek hit the wall with such force, the ceramic tile cracked. Derek could feel two of his ribs breaking, the taste of blood in his mouth…and then…the room was suddenly filled with blinding white light. The last thing he was aware of, was the sound of Alastor, screaming in agony, as the blinding white light suddenly enfolded Derek, lulling him to sleep…


	17. Reunion

The blinding white light that had enfolded Derek Barnes, eventually pulled away as he lay on the floor, dazed, and unable to move. Somewhere in the building, perhaps over an intercom, he could hear music playing loudly. It was the soft soothing guitar music of _**Dejango Reinhardt**_, and the song playing was: _**'I can't give you anything but love …' **_Derek began to groan. Although the bright light, and the soft gentle music, comforted him, Derek was afraid.

_Am I dead?_

Tears threatened to flow from Derek's closed eyelids, as he thought of his mother, his brother Adam, Chloe, Jason…and Lan. Thoughts of his friends continued playing through his mind, causing him to finally stir and open his eyes. To his astonishment, Derek found himself, still inside the operating theater, but the place had changed, dramatically. This place, once resembling a scene of darkness and decay, was now clean and brightly lit. The operating table and the instrument stands were all gone. The cabinets remained, but were empty. What's more, Derek could detect the faint smell of roses in the air. He tried lifting his head, but quickly let it fall back down as searing pain shot throughout his body, like a thousand hot knives stabbing him. Unable to move, Derek turned his head to the wall.

He continued to face the wall, even as he heard the sound of a door opening and closing, and footsteps approaching him. Derek shut his eyes tight, and cringed. He whimpered, expecting the worst. But instead, he felt a cool, soft, sweet-smelling hand, stroke his forehead and cheek. A soothing female voice, comforted him.

"Shhhhhhhhhh…don't be scared…you're safe now…Nobody is going to hurt you."

Derek cautiously opened his eyes, and slowly turned his head. A sigh of relief escaped from his lips, when seeing a beautiful young nurse with corn-silk colored hair looking down upon him, with compassionate eyes. She continued to stroke his forehead.

"Mr. Barnes, sir… I know you've suffered so, but you need to stop. Everything is going to be alright now".

She produces a syringe, filled with a strange florescent blue liquid. Seeing this, caused Derek to panic, but the nurse squeezed his shoulder, reassuringly.

"Mr. Barnes, please!" implored the nurse firmly, "I promise I am not going to hurt you…"

Derek looked at the nurse, and saw by her expression, that she was sincere. He sniffled, then nodded to her, and she gently rolled up his sleeve. Once she administered the injection, Derek gasped when feeling the agonizing pain, suddenly vanish. He could now move his arms and legs.

"There…" smiled the nurse extending her hand, "feel better now?"

"Much better" replied Derek.

Derek grabbed the nurse's hand and she helped pull him to his feet. She waited a moment, while Derek got his bearings. He forced himself to smile.

"Thank you" he said, studying the nurse. "who are you?"

"Nurse Knowles" she replied, "but folks around here, usually call me by my first name: Emma…" Derek's eyes widened when hearing that name.

"You…you you're…Madison's grandmother…?"

"Mmm-hmmm" she nodded, smiling, " But enough talk, your time here is very limited. And there are people who wish to see you…"

Derek's expression turned from surprise to apprehension, as Emma took him by the hand, and led him out of the operating theater. Dejango Reinhardt's music, continued playing as they left the theater and entered a clean, bright hallway filled with staff and patients, alike. Warm, positive energy filled the area, and both staff and patients appeared to be happy and smiling. As Derek and Emma walked past the people, they stopped and smiled, warmly at him. This concerned Derek, so he whispered to Emma.

"Why is everybody smiling at me" he asked, nervous. Emma looked at him and smiled.

"They're indebted to you, Derek…we all are…Oh! I'm sorry, may I call you 'Derek' ? " Derek nodded, but he was still confused, so Emma elaborated.

"You helped summon Michael, to crush the Dark Man…and now that he's been slain, we're all free to leave this place…"

"The Dark Man…" spoke Derek, "Don't you mean Ala-"

Before Derek could finish speaking the demon's name, Emma quickly pressed her fingers, firmly against his lips.

"No" she urged, "You mustn't speak its name, even if it _is_ dead. Now come…"

Emma continued leading Derek through the hallway, towards the lobby. At first, Derek felt giddy, believing Emma was going to escort him out of the hospital. But his heart quickly sank when Emma turned right, pulling him away from the hospital entrance. Derek strained his neck to look back at the entrance doors, and Emma continued pulling him along.

"This way" she said, as they came to two green double doors.

Derek frowned, not knowing what to expect, but Emma smiled, and pulled open the doors. Derek's large eyes, suddenly brightened when seeing a beautiful, spacious courtyard, filled with laughing, happy patients, from the very young to the very old. Staff members appeared throughout the courtyard, standing around as if on guard. Derek immediately noticed something about these particular staff members: their eyes were a striking deep blue color, and their bodies seemed to cast a warm beautiful glow. Derek watched as everyone else seemed to be laughing and playing in the sunlight. Suddenly, he felt himself, being gently pushed forward by Emma, so he carefully made his way down the steps. He continued walking and observing everyone laughing and playing until someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Well, well, Mr. Barnes…you're a sight for sore eyes…" spoke a familiar voice.

Derek quickly turned around and saw Vince Elsing, standing near his left side. Derek tightened his jaw and his fists. A part of him wanted to curse Vince and clobber him for not warning him in time, but the other part…was just too exhausted physically [and emotionally] to really bother. All Derek could do was stand there, silently fuming.

"What's a matter, boy…cat got your tongue?" smirked Vince, lighting a cigarette. Derek shook his head.

"Why didn't you warn me about this place?" he asked, as Vince took a long drag from his cigarette.

"I was being watched too closely…they've been watching you too. But by the time I found out about your little side trip, it was already too late. Besides…even if I _had_ warned you in time, would you have listened to me?"

Derek glared silently at Vince, as he continued smoking.

"So I contacted your friend, Chloe…even _then_ I was jeopardizing my safety _and hers_!" Vince returned Derek's glare. "And you want to know why I did that…boy?…I did it because of your brother. He was prepared to sacrifice himself…again… to save you…!"

Hearing this, caused Derek to feel guilty once more, and he lowered his head. Vince continued to smirk, until he noticed Emma's disapproving look. Vince moved closer to Derek. He spoke more softly…

"You were very lucky Mr. Barnes…but next time, be a little more thoughtful".

Vince backed away from Derek.

"The next time you get in trouble like this…I may not be able to help you". He paused, "there's a war going on, boy… good versus evil…and like it or not, you and your friends are now a part of it…"

Derek stared at Vince. He did not like what he was hearing. "I don't understand…"

"In Cassadega…" spoke Emma, "…you dealt their side a crippling blow. But the war is far from over…what happened to you in this place, Derek, was an act of vengeance, nothing more…"

Emma paused briefly. "But the Dark man… he _also_ wanted to use you as a hostage to draw out Vince and your brother."

"Why" demanded Derek, turning to Vince, "What does he want with you and Adam?" Vince groaned.

"Ahhhhhh Boy…did anyone ever tell you, you ask too many questions?" Derek fell silent. "Anyway…" continued Vince, "I've said all I had to say... Be careful from now on."

Vince turned and walked off. Derek watched silently, as Vince walked into a crowd of people, and disappeared. Derek shook his head, and sighed disgusted, as Emma put a comforting hand on his shoulder. [Another song from Dejango Reinhardt begins to play: _**Oriental Shuffle **_]

"There's someone else here, who wants to see you" spoke Emma, softly.

Derek looked at her, and then looked in the direction she was gazing. Suddenly Derek's eyes widened, his jaw dropped, and he found it difficult to breathe. Standing just a few feet away, was a person dressed in a nice blue shirt, and tan dress pants; his brown hair was slicked back. Although the person had his back turned to him, Derek knew…

…_.No…it couldn't be…it can't be…this isn't REAL!_

Derek gasped when he felt Emma placing both hands on his arms, squeezing. He looked at her as she smiled, sympathetically.

"This is no dream, Derek…I assure you, this is _very real…" _

Derek swallowed hard, as he vigorously fought back a new wave of tears. His throat ached, as Emma slowly nudged him forward. His first step was clumsy, but he continued to walk slowly and cautiously, to the person standing with his back towards him. When he finally reached the person, Derek stopped. He called out, but his voice was barely audible.

"…Hello Adam…" spoke Derek, scarcely able to breathe.

The person slowly turned around, revealing that it _was_ Adam. He took one step closer to Derek, with a smile that was almost like a frown.

"Hello brother…" he said, moving close.

At first, Derek hesitated. But slowly he moved closer to Adam, and then they embraced; despite his best efforts, Derek broke down, sobbing in his brother's arms. It was the moment he had waited for, and wished for, for so long. There wasn't a day that had gone by, that Derek had not ached for his twin brother, or wished that he would have done more to save him, that horrible night. But right now, in this moment, none of that mattered anymore. He and Adam were reunited. And now, Derek was finally complete.

Emma stood watching, as the two teenage boys, Richard and Stanley, joined her. She smiled, teary-eyed, as Derek and Adam continued to hug one another, tightly. They continued to hug, as they, and everyone else in the courtyard, were enfolded by a beautiful, blinding, white light….

The blinding white light eventually faded away, revealing a waiting room, inside a modern day hospital. Inside the waiting room, sat Chloe, in a comfy chair. Lan, was sleeping fitfully, on a couch next to her, and Jason paced back and forth, in front of a large clock that read: 12:46 a.m. He stopped, however, when seeing Nathan enter, carrying his laptop, and a large pizza box. Amy followed behind him, carrying drinks, and a large bag stuffed with pillows and blankets.

"Hey guys" spoke Nathan, "have you heard anything new? How is he?"

Jason and Chloe exchanged tired looks.

"The doctor said Derek gave paramedics a bad scare on the way over here…but his condition is stable now. The doctor's trying to make arrangements for us to go see him…"

Chloe added, "He also said that Derek had two cracked ribs, and his left Tibia had a simple fracture…but remarkably, his Thoracic Vertebrae didn't appear damaged…"

Everyone gave Chloe a confused, annoyed look, and she smiled apologetically, when realizing she was speaking in a foreign language.

"Sorry" continued Chloe, "what I meant was, he said Derek's throat and neck appeared undamaged…although the burn marks on his throat, suggest someone used incredible force to strangle him…"

Chloe rubbed her eyes. "Jesus" she muttered, "that thing really wanted him dead…"

Amy and Nathan exchanged troubled looks, and then they slowly looked at Chloe and Jason.

"There's something we should show you guys" spoke Nathan, beckoning them to another part of the waiting room.

Chloe and Jason looked confused, but they followed Nathan and Amy to the opposite side of the room. They watched as Nathan opened up his laptop, and with a couple swift key strokes, accessed his video files.

"Amy found Derek's video camera and downloaded the images to our laptop"

He suddenly lowered the screen half way, so Jason and Chloe couldn't see what was on screen.

"I managed to edit some of the more gruesome stuff out of this slide show. But I gotta warn you. This is NOT pretty. There are over an hour's worth of footage containing Derek tied up, tortured, and…ra…assaulted…"

Jason and Chloe collectively held their breath, as Nathan slowly lifted the screen… Chloe clapped her hands over her mouth and Jason tightened his jaw, when seeing images of Derek, bound and gagged, screaming and struggling as strange shadows covered him in the morgue. Another, more disturbing one showed Lan, struggling to administer CPR in the death tunnel. They watched as Lan pushed herself away, crying for several minutes…and then to Jason and Chloe's shock, they saw a translucent white figure, press its hands on Derek's chest, instantly reviving Derek…

Jason and Chloe turned away, speechless. They had seen and heard enough. Nathan ended the slideshow.

"In addition to this, however, Derek _also_ managed to get lots of other ghost footage and poltergeist activity on camera. Images that _don't _show him and Lan getting hurt…"

"Guys…" spoke a small voice.

The group turned and saw Madison standing in the waiting room with her father, Eric Knowles. She was clutching a small, plush tiger doll.

"…Is Derek going to be okay? I want to give him something…"

She stretched out her hands, showing the group her stuffed animal. It was a plush Tigger doll (designed, not the Disney cartoon version, but the classic story book version). Her father put his hands on Madison's shoulders.

"Maddie, please…" her father spoke, gently. "Folks…I just wanted to thank you and Derek, for saving my daughter. Also, I'm sorry we bothered you…I tried explaining to Maddie, we shouldn't intrude, but she insisted…"

"No, it's okay" answered Chloe, "we're waiting to find out if we can go see him, ourselves".

No sooner did Chloe say this, a doctor entered the waiting room.

"Well speak of the devil" said Jason.

"Derek Barnes…?" asked the doctor.

Lan immediately woke up from her sleep, and everyone in the room, gave the doctor their full attention.

"I was able to make arrangements for you to go see him, but only for 10 minutes. He's on the fourth floor in room 410".

Jason and Chloe helped Lan up from the couch, and the group wasted no time pacing towards the elevator…

_**Upstairs, in room 410:**_ Derek Barnes slowly woke up, with a start. When his vision cleared, he observed his surroundings, and suddenly felt sad, and closed his eyes, groaning. Derek did not want to come back to the land of the living; he wanted to stay with Adam. Just then, he heard footsteps entering his room. When he opened his eyes, Derek saw Lan, Chloe, Jason, Amy, Nathan, and Madison's father standing around his bed, smiling. Madison moved up close to Derek, on the opposite side of the bed from Lan.

"Hello Derek" smiled Madison, "I wanted to give you Tigger…"

She gently picks up Derek's right arm, and places her Tigger toy on his chest. But before she let's go of his hand, Madison notices, the red tattoo on Derek's wrist. She stretches his arm out and studies it intently, as her father shifts, uncomfortably.

"You have a tattoo?" asked Madison. Derek smiled and nodded.

"Dad says only Bikers and Carnies have tattoos…you don't look like a biker…"

"Maddie!" cries her father, mortified, but the whole entire group erupts with laughter.

Derek grins, trying hard not to laugh (because it hurts to do so), but it was obvious that he was amused.

"Thank you Madison" smiled Derek, weakly, squeezing Tigger. "and you can tell your dad, that he can now add 'Surfers' to the list of people with tattoos."

Everyone laughs as Madison is gently escorted away by her father. Madison waves goodbye as the others move in closer to Derek.

"So how are you feeling, man" asked Jason.

Derek's lips slowly formed into a lop-sided smile.

"How do I feel?" he asked, "like I've been run over by a truck. But I'll live…"

But suddenly, Derek's smile faded as he looked at his friends. For the most part, Lan, Chloe, and Jason looked okay; but Derek was quick to observe the various cuts, bruises, and bandages each person had. He swallowed hard, shaking slightly.

"I really screwed up…" he said, glancing at the wall.

He was trying to avoid eye contact with everyone, but Jason moved closer to Derek, patting him gently on the shoulder.

"What are you kidding, 'D' ?" spoke Jason, "You were awesome back there…you kicked that thing's ass..!"

Jason smiled as everyone else tried forcing a smile. Nathan and Amy started for the door.

"Well guys" spoke Nathan, "Amy and I are going to go get everything set up in the waiting room…If you need us Derek, we'll be downstairs…"

"We'll see you Derek" spoke Amy as she followed Nathan.

Derek looked confused and a little concerned. "What are they talking about?"

"Oh…" spoke Chloe, "Nate's brought over some food, blankets and pillows. We're all going to camp downstairs for the night."

Derek's expression was sad. "You guys…you really don't have to do that…you should go back to the house and rest…"

"But we want to stay here with you" said Lan, touching Derek's shoulder.

The doctor pokes his head into the room.

"Guys…a couple more minutes…" he says, and the group nods.

"Well, hey" spoke Chloe, "I'm going to go see if Amy needs help in the waiting room".

Chloe pats Derek's uninjured leg, and smiles. "If you need anything Derek, we'll be here."

Chloe turns and slowly walks towards the door. As she does this, she elbows Jason in the back. At first he bellows out in pain, but suddenly he gets the hint, and he quickly follows behind her. Jason waves and says 'goodbye' to Derek one more time, before ducking out of the room. Lan then pulls up a chair, and sits close to Derek. He studied Lan with large, sad eyes, as she held his hand. Derek's heart began to race, and he felt himself grow increasingly warm. Suddenly, everything they had endured, the past several hours, was coming back to him. He shook a little, as images of Lan being frightened and hurt, flooded his mind. His eyes became misty.

"Lan" Derek spoke, "…are you okay?"

Lan smiled, squeezing his hand. "Of course…why wouldn't I be?"

Derek squeezed her hand, as he fought back tears.

"…I've been so stupid, Lan…" he said, sniffling, "…when I saw that thing grab you…"

"Derek, don't!" Lan begged.

"…I thought I was going to lose you… I -"

Before Derek could finish his sentence, Lan pressed her lips against Derek's lips, and kissed him. As she did this, Lan continued holding Derek's hand, while with her other hand, she ran her fingers through his hair. Eventually, Lan pulled out of their kiss, and she continued to hold Derek's hand and stroke his hair. Lan smiled, near tears.

"I love you Derek…" she said, "But I swear to God, if you don't stop blaming yourself… I'm going to have to smack you…"

Derek looked at Lan, confused, but then he forced himself to smile once more as they continued to squeeze one another's hand, tightly…

_*************Cut to Commercial Break************_


	18. Epilogue: Only time will tell

_*********Back from Commercial Break**********_

Two weeks have passed since that horrible night in Massachusetts State Hospital. Throughout this time, Derek Barnes had feigned a positive attitude and pretended that he was his old, care-free self

again. But the memory of his and Lan's captivity, continued to haunt him and eat away at his conscience. In spite of what Lan , Nathan, and everyone else told him, Derek still blamed himself for putting

everyone in danger. It was a recurring pattern that, until now, he was able to brush off and ignore. But the demonic attack on his friends, his torture, and near death experience, _finally_ convinced Derek

that he needed to rethink his approach. But all that could wait until they returned home… Still, thanks to Emma and his brother Adam, Derek managed to find some comfort in knowing that his actions

did help free countless numbers of souls, trapped in that horrible asylum. It was a small consolation, yes, but it did make him feel a little better.

During his hospital stay, Derek found comfort through Chloe, Jason, and Lan, who never left his side. Nathan, even brought in his own Playstation 2; so that he, Derek, and Jason could duke it out,

playing: Twisted Metal: Black, Onimusha: War Lords, and Gran Turismo 3. Derek enjoyed video gaming immensely. But what he enjoyed most of all, were the tender moments he and Lan shared when

no one else was around. Whenever, Chloe & Jason had to leave the room for a few minutes, Lan would close the door, and she and Derek would make out. Derek wasn't sure what he enjoyed more:

the sugary taste of Lan's kisses, the sweet intoxicating smell of her roses / orange blossom perfume; or the exhilarating rush, of potentially being caught in the act.

After he was discharged from the hospital, Derek was eager to return home as soon as possible, but Nathan wouldn't hear of it. It wasn't easy, but he, along with everyone else, managed to convince

Derek, to stay an additional two weeks; at least until his ribs healed. The last two weeks were spent going out, sight seeing, and reminiscing of fun memories. Finally, the day came when it was time

for them to leave. But on the night before they were to say their 'goodbyes', Nathan threw one last party…

The time on Nathan's outside patio clock, read: 8:24 p.m., and the sun was just starting to set. It was a beautiful warm summer evening in Waltham, Massachusetts. Once again, the group of party-

goers was small, but lively. Derek was hobbling around on one crutch, while operating his video camera, recording the party. First, he focused his camera on Lan, sitting on a large boulder next to the

pond, looking at the ducks. Derek continued focusing on her. She was even more beautiful with her hair down, and the setting sun's rays caused her silk, turquoise skirt, and camisole, to shimmer. Lan

looked up, and noticed Derek had been filming her. She smiled, blowing him a kiss. He blew a kiss back to her, and grinned. He then pans the camera over to Jason, lounging on an outdoor love seat

with Devina. Jason, had his arm, stretched out, strategically behind Devina, in an attempt to put his arms around her. Derek then panned his camera over to Chloe, Nathan, and Amy, slaving away at

the grill. As Nathan and Chloe chatted, with bottles of beer in hand, Derek noticed Amy, struggling with a large, silver kettle, filled with live lobsters. Derek's grin, widened as inspiration struck. He

quickly hobbled over to Chloe, Nathan, and Amy, taking care not to be noticed by Jason. Chloe, was the first to notice Derek.

"Oh hey Derek" said Chloe, but then she noticed his Cheshire cat grin, and she cocked her eyebrow. "What are you up to?"

"Nathan I need your help" smiled Derek, as Nathan and Chloe exchanged looks.

"O-Kay…what do you need" asked Nathan, putting his beer down.

Derek handed Nathan the camera while it was still recording, and then he opened up the silver kettle, pulling out one of the live, struggling lobsters. Amy shouted "Hey!" as Chloe continued to stare at him, disapprovingly.

"That's _your lobster_ Derek" chided Amy, "so you better not let anything happen to it…"

But Derek didn't seem to be listening. Instead, he held the lobster with his free hand, laughing and then he held the lobster up in front of the camera lens, throwing his voice on it.

"Hello" spoke Derek in a weird, high pitched voice, "I'm Larry the Lobster, and we're gonna play a little joke on Jason…"

Derek continued to laugh and grin, as he turned and beckoned Nathan to follow him. Amy and Chloe both rolled their eyes, and shook their heads as Nathan followed Derek.

"This is going to be hilarious" whispered Derek, as he and Nathan quietly snuck up behind the love seat.

With care and caution, Derek quietly positioned himself behind Jason, as Nathan, focused the camera on the lobster in his hand. Slowly, Derek moved the lobster, closer to Jason's face, keeping it just

outside of Jason's range of vision. Derek resumed his funny voice, as one of the lobster's antenna, brushed Jason's cheek.

"Hello…can I have a hug?"

Jason turns his head and jumps when seeing the lobster in his face. But his sudden movement, knocks the lobster out of Derek's hands, and it tumbles then crawls around in Jason's lap. Jason shoots

up out of his seat, screaming, flailing his arms, and dances around, trying to shake the lobster off his pants. By this time, Derek and Nathan are both doubled over, laughing so hard, they're in tears.

When Jason finally rips the lobster off his pants, Jason glares at Derek, leaning on his crutch, trying to catch his breath. Without warning, Jason rushes Derek and tackles him to the ground. Chloe and

Amy both gasp, and rush over to Derek and Jason. Lan and Devina rush over as well, fearing that Jason will clobber Derek. But instead, Jason traps Derek in a headlock, and grinds his fist in Derek's

hair, as he and Nathan continue laughing, hysterically. Eventually Jason stops, and gets off of Derek, who finally runs out of breath. Sprawled on the ground, Derek looks up at Jason and smiles.

"Aw Jason…you hurt Larry the Lobster's feelings…"

Jason narrowed his eyes at Derek, then smiled. "Derek, you are one sick, twisted individual…"

Jason reached out, and helped Derek to his feet; then the two embraced, and laughed like teenagers, as Chloe and Lan exchanged smiles. The group eventually shared a delicious seafood dinner,

drinks, and more laughs, before dispersing in different directions. Devina led Jason back to the house, so she could 'show him' her room. Derek took Lan by the hand, and led her down to the fire pit.

Chloe and Amy chatted on the patio, when Nathan walked over to them, and handed Chloe a large envelope.

"What is this?" asked Chloe, confused.

"Open it" smiled Nathan.

Chloe hesitated at first, but then she slowly opened up the envelope, as Amy slid her arm around Nathan's waist. The two exchanged thoughtful looks, as Chloe's eyes became slightly misty. Inside the

envelope was a video tape, and pictures of her and Adam when they stayed with Nathan and Amy.

"I'm sorry" spoke Nathan, softly, "Amy and I didn't mean to make you sad. We actually meant to give you these things sooner, but it was…"

"…too hard?" spoke Chloe, finishing Nathan's sentence. Though her eyes were misty, Chloe looked at them and smiled.

"Thank you guys" Chloe said, "This really means a lot…"

She continued looking at the pictures in her hand; one of them was of Adam, Chloe, Nathan and Amy, laughing around the fire pit, roasting hot dogs. And another one, was of Adam and Chloe,

standing near the pond in the fall; in this picture, Adam had wrapped his arms around Chloe, keeping her warm, as he kissed her forehead. This picture caused Chloe's throat to ache, as she repressed

her tears. She slipped the pictures and the video tape back into the envelope.

"Well" spoke Amy, "It's too bad you guys have to leave so soon. You know you are welcome to stay as long as you want".

"Yea" added Nathan, "I wish Derek wouldn't go. I'd feel a whole lot better if he took more time off".

Chloe smiled briskly. "Yea. But you know how he is…"

Chloe hugged the large envelope in her arms as she glanced down the hill at the fire pit, where Derek and Lan were now standing. Chloe frowned, shaking her head.

"Poor Derek…" spoke Chloe, "I really wish he _would_ take more time, so he can cope with the trauma ".

"He really got the worst of it" spoke Amy, squeezing Nathan's waist.

Chloe shivered, remembering all the things she and Jason, saw on the video tape. The worst part for her (other than watching Lan struggling to revive him), was the part where Derek was nearly

assaulted by those two men, who mysteriously vanished after a solid black column of fog appeared in the room. After that, Chloe couldn't bear to watch anymore.

"Derek has always been resilient" continued Chloe, "but this time I think it's different. This whole experience isn't something he can just brush off, or sweep under the rug…it's personal, somehow. I

just hope he knows he can open up to us."

"I think he knows that" said Nathan, drinking his beer. "But I also believe he's going to be okay."

Chloe stared at Nathan, stunned. She couldn't believe Nathan, was treating Derek's state of mind, so nonchalantly. Nathan, picked up on Chloe's reaction and quickly clarified what he said.

"I know Derek's going to be okay Chloe…" he continued, "…because he has you, Jason and Lan, to lean on…but it's important that you don't force him to talk about his ordeal. Just let him know you

guys are there for him, and that you got his back…that's about all you can do…"

Nathan took another swig from his beer then stopped. "Hey wait a minute, what am I saying? You're the psychologist…"

Chloe smiled and laughed at his response.

_**Meanwhile, down by the fire pit:**_ Derek and Lan sat close to each other on a stone bench, watching the fire as it spit glowing flakes into the indigo night sky. Derek smiled as he watched the fire cast

a warm radiant glow on Lan's face. She was so beautiful. For the first time in his life, Derek was truly happy. He reached into his left pocket, and was about to remove something until Lan spoke up.

"Oh! There's something I got to tell you…I was going to save it as a surprise, but I can't wait anymore" Lan said. "Since I posted our story about Massachusetts State Hospital…the number of our

subscribers have tripled!"

Lan turned around to face Derek, and smiled as she continued.

"Also, you wouldn't believe how many emails we've received. Last I checked, there were over two hundred new messages. The Wack Pack's gone crazy…"

Lan was about to stand up, until Derek grabbed her wrist, and gently pulled her back down. Her smile faded, and confusion set in.

"What's the matter, Derek" she asked, "Don't you want to go and see?"

Derek did not respond. Instead, he took Lan's hand, and handed her a small, white, velvet box. Lan looked at the box, then looked at him. She was speechless.

"Go ahead" smiled Derek, nervous, "open it".

He bit his knuckles and watched nervously as Lan, slowly opened the small box. She gasped when seeing a small, delicate, sterling silver heart locket. Lan stared at Derek. She moved her lips, but she

was unable to speak. Derek, shifted nervously on the stone bench.

"I…I know we just started dating and I know it's probably too early to buy you something like this…"

Lan continued staring at him as he spoke more rapidly.

"I mean…what I mean is, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable with this gift. And I know it isn't much but I wanted to get you something to show how much I care about you and to show how much I

appreciate you and when I saw it at the store, I knew I had to get it for you…so…I hope you like it….and I hope you don't think it's stupid…"

Lan looked at Derek, and looked at the necklace. She was near tears.

"Derek…it's beautiful…" spoke Lan, in a quivering voice. "…Please…would you help me put it on?"

Derek's hands trembled slightly, as he removed the silver locket from its box. Lan moved closer to Derek, holding her hair up, as he slipped the silky chain around her neck, and fastened it. Lan then

turned around, so that Derek could see how it looked on her. His hands, rested on her shoulders.

"Well" smiled Lan, "how does it look?"

Derek couldn't speak. All he could do was watch as the warm light of the fire danced off Lan's face, giving her a radiant glow; The silver heart locket, his gift to her, gleamed in the firelight.

"It's beautiful" Derek said finally, as his hands softly traveled up her neck, and cupped her chin.

Derek slowly leaned in and kissed her. As he did this, Lan slid close to him, her hands traveled up his chest, and around his neck. He pulled away and they both shared a smile before they resumed

kissing one another. Whatever pain or sadness Derek was carrying inside, melted away as he and Lan held and kissed each other. They continued to kiss and hold one another, and they ignored Amy

as she tried calling them back for dessert…

_************ END CREDITS **************_


End file.
